Princess of the Swarm
by Howling Din
Summary: Born after the End War as a frail half-human to an apathic mother, our heroine must work around her inherent weakness to earn a place in both the Swarm and in the heart of her mother, the Overqueen Zagara. When she is sent to a newly charted world to defeat its feral inhabitants and prove herself, she will be met with unforeseen adversaries.
1. The Little One

**Illustrator's credit goes to to Fangtom for the awesome new cover art. Check out his FF and Deviantart pages!**

 **www fanfiction net/u/6438087**

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* * *

 **Part I: The Conquest of Nature**

The walls, floor and ceiling were made of biomass; damp, living and healthy. The rounded, smooth architecture liked to shift and stretch itself in certain areas. Given this, it maintained its shape with diligence.

She walked on this living floor on two feet. All of her breathing, vocal and eating orifices were concentrated to an extended section atop her body, as were her sensory organs. She was humanoid with a pair of arms and opposable thumbs. Both her eyes oriented forward, with emphasis on depth perception, but they were a glowing blue, with oval-shaped pupils. She stopped in front of a door. It would not yet open.

"Your public awaits you, little one." The voice was smoothly accented, and carried a hint of sarcasm. She turned, it came from a somewhat more humanoid man leaning against the wall. He was a Terran, with features of infestation mostly concentrated on his left arm, and a glowing aura that concealed his eyes and the damaged parts of his face.

"Mom holds a summit every two hundred days." She replied, turning to look forward again. "All of the senior Broodmothers are in the main hall."

"And why do you think Zagara wants you in there?"

"I was summoned, Alexei."

"Yes, but why?"

"Why do I think?"

"Yes." Alexei had a small, amused smile.

She took a breath, now looking downward and letting her composure slip. "Probably... to test me. Mom likes to do that."

He itched his neck with his infested arm. "You could always try to kill her if it gets too much. We Zerg are big on natural selection."

She laughed briefly at this, now smiling and looking his way again. "That's what I like about you, Alexei. Always thinking." She stopped herself, looking ahead again, sobered. "But... I like it when I pass her tests. I like it when mom is satisfied, and tells me what a good girl I am."

"Mm," he took his claws off his neck, finished itching it. "I suppose you're a bit young for matricide, even by Zerg standards."

"She's fair to me... Tough, but fair. I..." She shook her head." I don't know what part of me it's coming from, but I don't want to fight her like I want to fight other things. I'd fight other Broodmothers like her, have fought them. But not her. To me she's my mother, and I'll only ever have one."

"It's definitely a Terran trait," he said. "They're big on family ties, and you've got quite a bit of Terran in you."

"Terran..." She looked at her own hand, with five clawed fingers including an opposable thumb. "Did my mother use Terran essence, knowing it to be inferior to the alternatives? Is it some kind of test in itself?"

"Maybe." Alexei shrugged. "It's been awhile since I've seen young people trying to work through their issues. Yet another Terran trait for certain."

"I saw Abathur the other day. He analyzed me ruthlessly, as he does everything. Used the phrase: 'Engineered obsolescence' to describe me."

"That thing is a glorified research computer. You shouldn't take him too seriously."

She looked at him, making eye contact with the glowing aura concealing his eyes. "Why are you being so supportive, Alexei? Is there something you want from me?" She was frowning.

He didn't shift, or change his facial direction. "No."

"Then what's your angle here? Are you trying to read me?"

He stood straight from leaning on the wall. "Saraslha, not every interaction is about dominance."

"What are you babbling about?" She was still turned to face him, a hand passive-mindedly set on her hip.

He walked the opposite direction from the door, waving her off without looking back. "Your public awaits you, little one."

"Hmph," she turned back to the door. It opened promptly, revealing a giant head with a round mouth and no eyes to speak of. It extended out from the wall on its flexible neck and swallowed her whole.

She was not alarmed in the slightest by this as the giant worm's esophagus moved her at an extremely fast speed through its length. The material all around her contracted behind her trajectory and loosened ahead of it, propelling her ahead. It was warm and lubricated, and did not hurt.

Another large worm head was hanging from the ceiling of a massive hall, above a platform in the center. It regurgitated Saraslha onto the platform, and she landed on her feet. There was an overhead, but otherwise the open skies of the planet Char were visible above in the open-aired hall.

A being was on the platform with Saraslha. It stood on a formation of pointed feet in a spider-like arrangement, with a centaur-esque upper body that had a pair of arms, and a head whose large cranium was shaped in an imposing diadem of horns and carapace. Its name was Zagara, and she spoke telepathically: _"Senior Queens of the Swarm: I present to you my creation. My daughter, Saraslha."_

Sarashla turned, and saw the assembly hall packed with similar-looking beings. She heard their psionic voices. Voices that expressed surprise, curiosity. Some broadcast confusion.

Zagara continued: _"As of this day, Saraslha will be as one of you: A queen of the Swarm, and a contender for Overqueen. She will compete with all of you as you compete with one another."_

One of the Swarm Queens' voice spoke up above the others: _"Will the Overqueen show favoritism to this one? Does she consider it her heir?"_

 _"I do not have an heir."_ Zagara said. " _My successor will earn that privilege, by proving what they're capable of."_

 _"And yet you are promoting this one, this... weakling."_ Saraslha twitched when she heard this.

 _"I owe no explanations."_ Zagara said. _"_ _It is my will. And mine is the will of the Swarm. Saraslha will contend for my leadership alongside the rest of you. This is not a ratification, it is a declaration."_

The psionic voices of the other Swarm Queens quieted; backed down. They did not dare challenge Zagara.

This was it, Saraslha thought. Her mother was putting her through another test. Indeed, it was the start of her greatest test yet. She turned back and looked up at her mother's head; her eyes. She knew how to speak with or without her mouth, and decided to observe the trend of the moment. _"What is it you would have me do, mother?"_

Zagara looked down at her. _"In the coming days, you will be sent to the distant planet of Sephulli. You will tame the renegade Zerg there, who will become the foundation of your Brood. This is your coming of age, Saraslha."_ She now looked over past Saraslha, at the gathered Swarm Queens. _"She will be one of us only after she passes this ordeal; proves her ability; her capacity to survive and thrive in a hostile environment. This should be satisfactory to all."_

When her answer was compliant silence, she continued: _"The fifth Summit of Char is now concluded. You will all return to your Hive Clusters."_

Flying overhead were massive organisms that choked out the black and red skies. Each extended down a Nydus Worm, identical to the one which transported Saraslha to the hall, each of which picked up one of the beings in attendance. They did not slow in their overhead pass as three or four were picked up at a time.

Zagara faced down at Saraslha once more. _"Come, daughter. There is much to discuss."_

They walked together along the narrow bridge from the platform, through a beak-like biological door, and into a corridor. "So..." Saraslha trailed as they walked together alone. She on two feet, Zagara on a formation of them. She suddenly had a huge smile. "I get to go to a new planet?"

" _Indeed you do."_

"I'm not terribly great at controlling Zerg. Once I get past twenty at a time, it gets hard."

" _The Char Broodmothers you've had war games with say you're a clever tactician. That your brain is too large for your own good. You turn down their demands to settle the match with a duel, and force them into submission with minions."_

"Yeah, a clever tactician. With my grand army of twenty or so combat Zerg." She said this sarcastically.

" _Everybody has a limit, Saraslha. Create Overlords to facilitate your psionic control, and your capacity will multiply-"_

She abruptly walked in front of her mother, stopping them both. "You threw me in front of a huge crowd today, without any warning. And that crowd was every senior Swarm Queen from outside Char."

" _What of it?"_

She inhaled in annoyance, clenching her teeth. "What- What was your intention? What were you planning to happen?"

Zagara was calm as ever, patiently accepting their stop. _"You are my child, Saraslha. And in my prodding and stirring you, I hope that something becomes of you. Perhaps you'll even lead the Swarm one day; I would consider that a success."_

She calmed at this explanation, exhaling. "That's... really what you want for me, is it?"

" _What I want is of little consequence."_ She walked ahead, placing a hand on Saraslha's back to bring her along. _"You will become what you will become. And whether it works or not, I look forward to seeing the outcome."_

Saraslha smiled lightly at this, a smile not visible to her mother behind her. She took it as meaning she should live her life as she saw fit, and not worry so much about what her mother expected.

Zagara was the next to speak, after they turned at an intersection in the corridors. " _The renegade Zerg on Sephulli were found by a survey party from the Terran Dominion. Their leaders spoke to me about it, asking if I had a claim on the world. I was truthful, and disavowed knowledge of the Zerg there, informing them as much that they had to be leaderless renegades."_

"The Terran Dominion..." The name of a human-centered interstellar empire which bordered Zerg space, and with whom they had a non-aggression agreement. "The Broodmothers on Char- the ones I know. If I make one upset with me, she will call me Terran. They view it as an insult."

" _You were born a Zerg, daughter. But much of you was created using Terran essence."_

"Why?" She asked forcefully, looking upward, and not looking back at her mother. "Why... don't we destroy them? The Terrans. We are stronger than them, are we not?"

" _What would we gain from a war with the Dominion?"_

"Resources, essence, territory- the spoils of war."

Zagara's eyes became broad, joyous. _"You... lack vision, child."_ There was joy in her voice as she lightheartedly brought her hook-claw hand over her shoulder, shaking it a bit as they walked. _"Vision is something you must learn, if you are to ever lead the Swarm."_

Saraslha brushed it off as she turned around to face her, walking backwards. "Pray tell, mother. What do you see that I don't?"

" _Blindly making war to everything different; killing, absorbing, assimilating. This universe of certainty and narrow-minded ambition. Such was the way of Amon, and of Amon's puppet ruler, the Overmind."_

"Alexei told me all about Amon. He used to be our God."

" _But no longer. My predecessor, the Queen of Blades, ascended to godhood and cast Amon down. We now follow the destiny she has set for us. She is our God now."_

They emerged to a broad terrace-like area. The top of the railing wall was lined with teeth, and it overlooked the sheer cliffs, bodies of magma and black stone which defined Char's landscape from the vantage point of the mesa atop which the mammoth structure was formed. They oversaw this view, next to one another.

"And what does She have to say about our need to evolve; our need to fight and grow?"

" _Simply destroying your opposition is not enough. If you cannot take what made them strong; appropriate their value, and use it for your own benefit, then there was no purpose in fighting them. It would be a waste of energy."_

"Survival is a purpose," she argued. "And you have to kill to survive."

" _You also need to grow to survive. And growth; true growth, is never natural and never comfortable. And it is not meant to be such; it is meant to challenge our comforts and challenge our nature."_

"So you think making peace with another race is a bold new idea; a necessary violation of the Swarm's comfort zone which we must overcome."

" _Precisely."_

"That's stupid. Let us at least rule them, and ensure they're of no threat. Then we can see about stealing their strength."

The Overqueen slowly shook her head at this. _"One of the Terrans' strengths, daughter, is the capacity and willingness to form cordial relationships with other races. The Dominion is allied with the Daelaam Protoss. If we invade them, these Protoss will come to their aid. It is risky, and foolish to war with two enemies at once."_

Saraslha sighed in concession to this point. "You... were there, weren't you? Alexei told me the story."

" _That one enjoys telling you stories, does he?_

She grinned at this, getting into the zone. "He told it like this: The End War, in which everything was laid on the line. I killed Narud -the bastard-, and then saw the forces of Terran, Zerg and Protoss come together, and give that son of a bitch Amon his comeuppance."

" _That... definitely sounds like Stukov."_

"You fought in that battle, didn't you, mother?" Her look was beaming gently up to Zagara's eyes. They were admiring toward her. "You were one of those Heroes, who helped save all life, including the Zerg."

" _We... fought beside the Queen of Blades against Amon. The Terrans did the same as us. And the Protoss did the same as us. We all had something in common that day."_

"And that's why you don't want to fight them again." This was it, she thought. She would nail down why her mother was so disinclined toward invading the Terrans. And also, perhaps why she was created with similarities to them.

She set her hook claw hands on the railing. _"Tell me, Saraslha. What is it that makes the Zerg strong?"_

"Efficiency. All reproductive duties are delegated to specialized organisms. These specialized organisms are also able to ingest elements from the planet itself into vast amounts of energy and convertible substance. We reproduce quickly, and replace our losses quickly. Our fighting breeds are equally specialized and efficient, as are our thinking minds."

" _What I was getting to..."_ She mused. _"Some of our greatest strains were borne of accidental mutation made by Zerg in a no-survival situation, that they might survive. Life is capable of incredible feats when the alternatives are taken away."_

"What does this have to do with the Terrans?"

" _The Terrans, I've learned, are as a race like a single Zerg in a no-survival situation. They are not as powerful as we Zerg, nor wise as the Protoss. This has led them to develop unique mutations."_

"The humans are builders and tool makers, mother. Reliant on their technology. How would they mutate like we do?"

" _Every member of their species is in possession of a higher-functioning brain. Our kind would regard this as a wasteful expenditure of energy; surely it is only a race's leaders and planners who would require such disproportionately large brain mass. Giving it to their lower-level beings would only sow disorder and make unification difficult."_

"It's probably the only part of my Terran essence I find useful. That, and my thumbs."

" _Every Terran individual is an independent cell, and every one of these cells has a chance of developing new traits. This, for them is done in the realm of knowledge and technology."_

"I'm sure a handful of the Humans are exceptional." Saraslha said begrudgingly. "Like Stukov, or the one who became the Queen of Blades. But their potential came out only after they became Zerg. And it doesn't give the original form any kind of power which we lack."

Zagara turned away from the view of the landscape, peering down at Saraslha. _"You must study history, daughter. The Terrans have come up with countless ingenious solutions to their trials which Zerg minds would never have considered. They have created weapons which gave the entire Swarm pause, and threw our Leader and her lieutenant minds into panic before a countermeasure was found."_ She looked ahead again. _"This clever mind, and need to overcome internal limitations are traits I deliberately gave to you. I am curious whether they will come to light during your mission on Sephulli._

"Yes..." She had to think about that. Her latest trial. The approval she'd get from her mother if she succeeded. "I won't be seeing you for a while."

" _It is a distant planet, out of range of my psionic connection. You will not hear from me until your return."_

"What are the details?"

" _You will go with a single transport, as well as a small escort. What a Dominion scouting party would view as a Zerg scouting party. Kill or take control of all renegade broods. Once you have conquered the planet, you will use its resources to cultivate a Leviathan. Decompose any broods you cannot bring with you, and return to Char triumphant."_

Saraslha processed this, nodding. "Why shouldn't I leave broods behind, to occupy the planet?"

" _The Dominion desires the planet, and they found it first. I offered to clean up the renegade broods as a sign of good faith. It is easier for us than for them."_

"So we're letting the Terrans have the planet." She gripped her hand around one of the teeth of the railing, extremely hard. "Isn't that just sweet." her voice was angry and spiteful. The tooth cracked internally from the force of her grip.

" _They view us as accountable for all Zerg- even leaderless renegade Zerg."_

"We're not. If we clean up the mess then we should get the planet."

" _We will be showing them something it is important they be shown: That we are permeable to reason. That we can negotiate, and have a mutually beneficial relationship. An interspecies symbiosis."_

"And what do we gain from this 'symbiosis?'"

" _I would think- hope, perhaps, that it gives our future Overqueen valuable experience, as well as her first flagship, when she uses the planet's resources to create a Leviathan."_

"Hmph," she nodded upward, at the view of Char's landscape. "I think it's giving 'our future Overqueen' a grudge against the Terrans."

Zagara's psionic voice could be heard laughing at this. _"I could not ask for a more amusing child. I want you to rule the Zerg one day, Saraslha. This means I want you to earn it."_

"...I'll do it." She calmed. "I'll do as you will. And I'll return to Char with a Leviathan. I won't leave any Zerg alive on Sephulli."

" _I am pleased to hear this."_

She took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Before I leave, there's... something I'd like to ask you."

" _Yes..? What is it?"_

Saraslha had a hand gripping the elbow of her other arm, she was staring downward, away. "It's... kind of emotional. You might dismiss it as a quirk, from the Terran essence used to make me."

" _I will take it seriously, daughter. Ask your question."_

"Am I... just an experiment to you? Something you're just trying out, because you think it might be interesting?"

" _Saraslha, I will concede that I deliberately created you to be different from me. I do not experience emotions in the same manner as you."_

Saraslha hugged her. Her head only went up to Zagara's chest, and she buried it into the hard carapace armoring it. "I need to know, mother. Do you... care about me?"

Zagara was still and speechless for a long moment. Watching the smaller being embrace her body. _"Why is it... you need to know this."_

"Because I care about you, mother. And it's like that thing you described with the Terran Dominion; a symbiosis. I need to know if you feel the same way."

" _Daughter, I..."_ She rested her claw hook hands on her shoulders. _"I cannot reciprocate the emotions you express toward me now. We are too different. I could pretend to... I would like to pretend to, and free you from this distraction. But it would be a lie."_

" _I... I see."_ Saraslha was talking psionically as well now. She let go of Zagara, and stood there, tightening her features and sucking her gut. _"I'll get through it, don't you worry about me."_ She donned a fake smile. " _This has been a nice conversation, mother. I'm going to depart for Sephulli tonight."_

" _You will succeed in your trial, Saraslha. And return home stronger, and wiser."_

"Yeah..." As she turned and walked away, she only managed an absent backward hand wave to her mother.

Saraslha exited the broad terrace into another corridor. It was deserted. She walked faster, trying to contain herself as she got further away from what happened. Tried to run away from it.

I'm stronger than this, she told herself. I have to overcome this. I'll overcome anything. I am Zerg. I will adapt, so that nothing can hurt me.

Her brisk walk began to slow. It slowed until it became a shuffle. The desire to be indifferent toward her mother; the resolve to be such, it all melted away with the presence... of her other self. That other part of herself. "I... can't." She said with her human-like vocal cords. She rested her forehead against the biological wall near her, digging her claws into its soft mass. "Why can't I..?" There were breaks in her voice.

Zagara had watched her leave, processing her daughter's behavior. _"Perhaps... it will be a part she outgrows."_

"You are one cold mother, Zagara." The voice was detached and calm.

She turned, and saw Alexei Stukov, revealing himself slightly from around the bend. He was leaning back against the inner wall, only partially concealed. _"I have a task for you, Stukov."_

"Oh..?" he cocked an ear, not moving from his spot.

" _If I give it to you, are you actually going to do it?"_

He chuckled. "It depends. If it isn't a challenge, I'm going to look for a challenge instead."

Stukov was the only part of the Swarm that displayed any insubordination toward the Overqueen and got away with it. He was a being of immense power, and the Zerg were responsive to power. Though it annoyed her, Zagara put up with it, thinking of him as an asset on a loose leash, rather than a defective chess piece. _"I want you to follow Saraslha to Sephulli. Watch over her without revealing yourself, and intervene if her life is in danger."_

He smiled at this, on only one side of his mouth and still not moving from his spot. "If she fails, she fails. Why do you want to contaminate your experiment with intervention?"

" _If you will not do it, then I will find someone else."_

"I'll do it. I'll have to bring my army though."

" _You should not bring your soldiers. It would be too conspicuous. Saraslha will notice your presence."_

He laughed briefly as he came out of his spot to face Zagara directly. "Do you want the little one's safety insured or not?"

" _...I do."_

"Then it's settled." He walked past Zagara. "I'll set off tonight, a few hours after the little one. And I'm taking my army."

Zagara's psionic voice could be heard groaning in concession. _"Do what you must."_

* * *

"I suppose you're coming with me on the trip, aren't you, Mister Hydralisk?"

The Hydralisk moved across land on a long, snake-like main body. It rose straight in its front half, with a pair of hook claw arms and a gaunt, ornate head section. It had followed Saraslha to the staging area on a lower section of the plateau.

The creature's brain was tiny, and designed to be receptive to psionic commands from a strict selection of other organisms. She had no trouble taking control of it.

"Well, Mister Hydralisk, ya joined me at the boring part." She was talking to the biological killing machine as though it understood language. "I'm waiting for an Overlord to fly by, so as I can take it. It's who'll ship us to Sephulli." She continued talking to herself. "Mom said a light escort, so a handful of Mutalisks wouldn't go amiss."

There was a sizable Zerg structure nearby. She and the hydralisk stood on the creep it maintained over the top surface of the ground. An egg lay next to the structure, among a pool of slithering larvae. It immediately hatched, exploding to free a pair of fully grown, but small creatures; twins. They scampered off on four legs. She sent a mental signal to them, and they stopped, turned, and came over to her.

"You two came out the same egg, and about half a second ago." They stopped next to her, awaiting the next command from their controller. "That makes you newborn twins. I guess... every Zergling has a twin, doesn't it?"

The two zerglings were indifferent. They idled next to her, barely up to her waist in height. One looked off and sniffed the air.

"And I guess that Hatchery is technically your mother." She was looking at the structure where the larvae and egg were pooled. "Ah!' She stopped herself. "Why am I talking to you idiots?" She was looking at the Zerglings now. "You'd probably rather be clawing the shit out of something right now."

A noise was made off to the side. She turned to it. "Nobody asked for your opinion, Mister Hydralisk," she snapped. The Hydralisk met her eyes, but then looked off, oblivious to her talking.

Saraslha picked up a bag from the ground. It was fashioned from the stomach of a large creature, and carried a selection of tools and personal effects which she collected, mostly from the ruins of a massive Terran fortress elsewhere on Char, abandoned years ago. Natural curiosity was a trait facilitated by her expansive brain mass, and one of these curiosities was human science and technology.

The remains of a great number of Terran bases and ships could be found on Char; the aftermath of many invasions and battles. She enjoyed searching these sites for interesting tools, weapons, and knowlege. Most valuable to her was a Command Center, or crashed Battlecruiser with an intact database.

"Gotcha!" She spotted an overlord flying overhead, and locked onto it mentally. Like the Hydralisk and Zerglings, it was a part of Zagara's brood, and she allowed her to take control of them.

Once contacted the first time, it became easier to draw the large flying creature to her, to direct it. "Come on down here, you big bastard."

The Overlord had no wings to speak of. Underneath its broad, stocky body hung an array of long, thin appendages.

It hovered right over Saraslha, and she ordered it to load them. She, the hydralisk, and the two zerglings were picked up by its appendages, and in simple curling motions, they were stuffed into a mouth-like opening.

Inside the Overlord, the sac in which they were deposited was broad and spacious, designed for transport volume. The sac was connected to the creature's lungs, which refreshed the air inside continually and kept it breathable.

Saraslha sat down on crossed legs. The hydralisk and zerglings settled themselves as well, having an instinctive understanding that they were being transported. She waxed her connection to the Overlord's mind. Once her link was strong enough, she could see through its eyes and sense all it could sense for herself. It was in motion, flying a broad circle around the Primary Hive Cluster. The mammoth structure was surrounded by giant tusks which came out of the ground and spired over the main biomass of the colossal Hive. She spotted, through the overlord's eyes, the terrace area on an upper level, where her recent conversation with Zagara took place. She was no longer there.

Saraslha took a breath, and directed the Overlord away from the main Hive Cluster. She saw a flock of Mutalisks, and steered toward them. The flying Mutalisks were faster than the overlord, but she was able to cut them off. Once she was close enough, she sent a psionic signal to all of them at once. It was even easier with an Overlord in her web of connections, whose brain was designed to optimize one's control over other Zerg broods. The Mutalisks altered their flight path and took formation around the Overlord transporting her.

With this single transport and light escort, she steered toward the stars, upward. Zerg were resilient, flexible, and recovered injuries quickly. They withstood the upper atmosphere of the planet. Mutalisks did not need their wings to fly, only to maneuver, add to their speed and remain airborne in high gravity. It was not long before they were in orbit, moving through the vacuum of space as they rose in their orbit over Char. They increased their speed and were propelled away from the planet by the centrifugal force of their fast orbit.

The Overlord could survive in a vacuum, and provide life support to its occupants for up to 40 hours. The Mutalisks were also able to store what they needed from air, and go long periods without breathing.

At first, it was as if there were no gravity inside the Overlord's sac, but as their orbit increased in speed and they moved away from the planet, she was pressed into the ceiling as a form of reverse gravity.

They broke free of Char's gravity without incident. Once this was done, Saraslha had the Overlord generate a small tunnel into warp space. The Mutalisks were not capable of the same, and had to share the Overlord's warp tunnel.

The precise location of star systems were stored as pure data, in the simple-functioning brains of Zerg capable of warp travel. Saraslha needed only access her Overlord's data files via their mental connection, and browse for the star system containing the planet Sephulli. Once she found it, and set it as their destination, the Overlord and Mutalisks entered the warp tunnel.

"I'll do as you will, mother." Saraslha said to herself as she entered warp space. Faster than light, they were propelled toward the Sephulli System.

"Yours… is the will of the Swarm."


	2. The Three Landings

Sephulli was the only terrestrial planet in its system. It neighbored two gas giants, which were at a more distant orbit from their star.

Saraslha's Overlord, and flock of Mutalisks came out of Warp Space in high orbit of the planet. Zerg were specially attuned to the presence of other life, and Sephulli supported life. This allowed the Overlord's navigation to lock into the exact position of the planet mid-warp. It was an advantage of the Zerg, to go straight to the planet in question, and not require warping into the general system, and then travel to their local destination at sub light speed as Terrans, and even Protoss were stuck with doing. This enabled shock invasions with an element of surprise unique to Zerg.

Saraslha had pulled a tablet-style computer out of her bag. It was connected to the Terran Dominion's FTL internet, and she used it to access all data they had on the planet. The computer produced light of a color not normally seen inside an Overlord's transportation sac. The Hydralisk looked her way out of instinctive alertness.

"Shh," she said to it. "I'm kinda cheating here. Mom doesn't know I have this."

The Hydralisk remained indifferent.

"I'll take that as your lips are sealed, Mister Hydralisk. Good man."

It laid back down, conserving energy and minimizing its air usage while they were being transported in space.

"Let's see…" She skimmed through the data on the planet. It was only one survey report, taken from orbit on account of the renegade Zerg on the surface. "It's hot, and moist. There's a crap-ton of limestone on the high ground, and thick-as-hell flora on the low ground."

The Hydralisk exhaled a bit, passively in its idle resting state.

"Now I know what you're thinking, Mister Hydralisk: How can we take down Renegade Zerg hive clusters dotted about the planet with just us? Well…" She tapped her forehead. "We've got me, and this here noggin. Zerg with big brains control the ones with small brains. It's a pretty accurate consistency to draw."

It shifted a little.

"Now, I can't take control of the hive clusters directly; I'd need voluntary transferal from the brood's original controller, whom is most likely rotting in the ground somewhere. But with some concentration and time, I can get one or two drones, start a new Cluster in a good spot, then we're in business. Any questions, gentlemen?"

She received no rebuttal from the Hydralisk, or the two Zerglings.

"Then it's settled." Saraslha stood up on the wobbly sac containing them. "Overlord, take us down!" She pointed ahead, although there was no visibility to the outside from where she was.

She slipped and landed on her back as the Overlord snapped into motion. It, and the small flock of Mutalisks escorting it crossed through the upper atmosphere and entered into the biosphere of Sephulli.

Saraslha concentrated again, seeing through her Overlord's eyes as it moved through the sky. She observed the landscape of the planet. Giant plateaus surrounded by sheer cliffs, and mist-ridden jungles in the low ground between each risen plateau island.

She sensed Zerg life as far across the planet surface as her mind's eye could reach; Hive Clusters in the jungle canopy, as well as atop the plateaus. The renegade Hive Clusters were set up near sources of Minerals and Vespene Gas: Two sources of energy and nutrition which the Swarm used to fuel its rapid growth, and keep its creatures from quickly going hungry from their fast metabolisms. Terrans and Protoss valued these resources in near-equal measure, and in times of war, the competition over them was fierce.

There was an unoccupied spot atop one of the plateaus which was close to unclaimed Mineral fields and a Vespene geyser. The nearest renegade Hive Cluster on the same elevation of land was a half kilometer away.

Saraslha turned her attention to this renegade Hive Cluster, and locked onto one of its minds. A smaller mind, a simple mind. It resisted her probing; it was only compatible with the mind of its previous controller, and even with the Overlord's help she had difficulty keeping the psionic connection from draining away and snapping. If the previous controller were still alive, it could have broken the connection with minimal effort.

It took time, from inside her Overlord hovering in the sky. The clouds passed by, and perspiration from her Terran essence washed over her tense brow in an attempt to cool it. After nearly an hour of working at it, she had one –just one- entity from the renegade Hive Cluster under her control. She ordered it to head for the vacant spot overland, at the same time directing her Overlord and Mutalisks to the same location.

It was a clearing in the thick, green flora of the planet. Mineral fields; blue, crystalline sediment which came in sizable chunks and protruded from the ground, as well as a geyser which exhaled a green gas; these were the natural resources which made the construction of a settlement sustainable and profitable.

The Overlord reached up into its mouth-like opening while hovering over the clearing. The sac decompressed, and Saraslha, the Hydralisk, and the two Zerglings were grabbed by the creature's appendages, pulled out and then set on the ground.

She stretched on her feet, taking a good breath of fresh planet air outside the Overlord's enclosure of recycled air. It felt nice.

"I don't know about you guys," she said to the Hydralisk and Zerglings. "But that's the first time I took a trip in a puny Overlord, rather than mom's Leviathan."

They idled on the ground where they were set. There was the occasional motion, such as the Hydralisk looking about turning its large head, or the Zerglings sniffing the air, but otherwise they remained vigilant, obedient to any order given to them.

"It just…" She took a few steps out, watching the vegetation around the clearing. "Takes a bit of getting used to…" The vegetation rustled at one spot, and then emerged a new Zerg. It hovered right above the ground, with a body that resembled a manta ray-like wing. Its other main discernable feature was a pair of large, horizontal pincer jaws set far ahead of its small, inconspicuous mouth. No bigger in volume than both the Zerglings put together, it headed straight for them.

"Easy, boys. This one's on our side." It was her mental order not to attack it that kept them from attacking it; her spoken words meant nothing to them. But she liked to talk with her mouth, so she did.

The new Zerg creature stopped near to her, and she bent down a bit to pet it atop its merged head and main body. "Hey there, little guy." She looked up to her three combat breeds. "We got ourselves a Drone, people." Her tone was excited.

The drone was directed via her psionic link with it, toward one of the mineral fields. It came up and began chewing on it, working with its strong jaws to separate a chunk from the larger whole. Once it had a piece, it came back to the spot near Saraslha and dropped the blue, gleaming chunk on the ground. "That's good… pile it up here, 'till we have enough."

The vegetation at the edge of the clearing rustled again. She turned to it. Out of the flora came another Drone.

This one was not under her control, and it would require at least another hour to take control of it. "Crap!" She exclaimed. _"Hydralisk, kill it!"_

The Hydralisk snapped into motion. The expanded area in its upper head opened a gap between its center and side plates, which stored razor-sharp throwing blades. It launched them at the targeted Drone, at high velocity and in rapid succession.

Drones were nearly helpless as combatants. The danger was if it escaped and alerted the renegade Zerg. One of the Hydralisk's projectile blades buried into its main body, and it squealed in pain. It turned, and fled back into the foliage.

" _No, hold!"_ The Mutalisks above, and Hydralisk next to her wanted to give chase. They stopped and held their position. Saraslha moved her mental scope to the two Zerglings. _"You two finish it off. Then come right back here."_

The Zerglings scampered across the clearing, and then into the foliage, following the scent of the wounded Drone.

Saraslha released a breath. It had been both a surprising, as well as tense predicament. Zerglings were fast, and could easily run down a Drone. The Hydralisk would have been too slow, and the Mutalisks too conspicuous for hunting it down. It must have followed the Drone she stole without her knowing.

"Heh… perhaps it was its twin." There was a mutation that allowed two Drones to hatch from one egg. She turned to her own drone, and saw that its pile of manageable mineral chunks had grown to three, with a fourth being set down. It had steadily continued work, ignoring the commotion.

Saraslha smiled at this, waiting patiently for the Drone to pile enough minerals. She kept count of the number of chunks, estimating with ballpark figures as to how many would be enough. It was her desire to get a Hive Cluster started as soon as possible.

About five minutes passed, and the two Zerglings returned from the hunt. She saw blood on their upper claws; Drone blood.

The pile became big enough, and she ordered the Drone to morph into a Hatchery. The creature hovered smoothly atop its mineral pile, and began a rapid metamorphosis.

The minerals underneath were wrapped in a wet tissue that enclosed around the bunch with an acidic solution excreted on the inside. They would be dissolved, then converted efficiently into Zerg biomass.

The ground they stood on was covered with thick, healthy vegetation. The Morphed Drone had become a breathing, pulsating lump which settled over the vegetation, rooting into the ground as it steadily grew in size, stretching its thin, transparent, bulging tissue and sometimes changing color.

"This… is the beginning." Saraslha said to herself. This would be the first Hatchery; the first Zerg, to be entirely her own; psionically bound exclusively to her, and not simply borrowed from her mother. "The start of my own brood. My own part of the Zerg Swarm." The Hatchery would be a sizable structure, and require a bit of time to develop, even with the Zerg's efficiency. "I… will be its queen." She looked at her five-fingered hand. "Queen…" She said aloud again. "This brood's salvation or extinction will hinge entirely on me. I am the determiner of its fate. Its director; its leader."

She beamed up at the developing Hatchery embryo. The height of the womb reached a towering level, and her gaze followed it. The Hatchery emerged, tearing out of its soft shell fully developed.

* * *

Alexei Stukov tapped his binoculars with a hard poke, making it correct its electrically controlled depth adjustment. He was lain prone on a limestone bluff, overlooking Saraslha's clearing from a great distance. "The little one already has a Hatchery going, without having brought her own Drones." He zoomed in on her. "She looks rather happy with herself."

A communicator in his coat pocket vibrated. He rolled onto his back and took it out, holding it in front of his face and pressing answer. "Talk to me, Benjamin."

The person on the other side was an infested Terran who maintained a strict composure. He saluted, standing in front of a stationary monitor. "Base camp is fully deployed on the planet surface, Vice Admiral. Our fortifications are in place."

"And what of the meddler besides us?"

"Broodmother Rindell has also made landing. She brought Drones with her, and already has a fully functioning Hive Cluster."

Stukov laughed lightly at this. "Rindell is an ambitious little fireball. It's no doubt she's here to wipe off Zagara's favorite."

"Shall we destroy her, sir?"

"No, this is good. Give the little one a challenge. We'll stay in the background, and observe."

The infested Terran looked off, then back at Stukov. "What of the Overqueen's orders?"

"Let me worry about Zagara." He got up, and then walked calmly down the rise in the ground, out of eyeshot of Saraslha's clearing. "I'm not on board the idea of coddling the little one. She needs to be tested now and again; taking a risk. We'll jump in if it goes too far, but otherwise this is a good scenario."

Infested Benjamin saluted. "As you say, Vice Admiral."

"Dismissed." They both hung up, and Stukov continued his leisurely, now quiet walk. He was on high, grassy and craggy ground on the end of the plateau overlooking the jungle below. The most audible thing from his location was the wind blowing over the hard edges of limestone.

* * *

Saraslha's Hatchery did not have enough broken down Mineral mass to produce a new drone. The one she'd had previously became the Hatchery, and… She turned to her Hydralisk. "I don't suppose your hook claws can cut up Minerals, can they?"

The Hydralisk slithered over to the mineral fields near the Hatchery. The structure had spread creep over the ground in a wide diameter, covering and consuming the lush, healthy green flora underneath. Zerg were at home on Creep, and moved more quickly over it.

" _No, stop."_ "Idiot."

The Hydralisk stopped, and turned to face her. She was walking up to it. With one hand, she lifted up one of its arms. It let her. "You see these? They're not near hard enough to cut through Mineral chunks." She looked down at the Zerglings, who were sitting in the creep. "That goes for you guys' claws as well. You'd wear down their sharpness and even break them."

She ordered her Overlord to hover over her as she walked toward the mineral chunks. It pulled out a large bag she left inside its transportation sac, and held it in front of her on the end of one of its long appendages. She took it. And then she took out a bulky, heavy mechanism centered on a handle which she gripped in one hand, as well as a framed together cluster of metallic, pressurized tanks connected to the tool via tubes and held in her other hand. Stopping next to one of the large mineral heaps, she turned to face her currently tiny Brood.

"A Drone's pincers are made of a specially dense composite; basically gemstones carved into tool shapes. This makes them super hard, but especially brittle to vibrations and impact. Their pincers are useless for fighting, and they need to settle them onto the Minerals before cutting into it with pure muscle power and serrated edges; no buildup, no momentous strikes." She aimed her hand with the heavy one-handed tool toward her audience. "You guys have claws meant for fighting; somewhat pliable and easier to sharpen. Not easy to break unless you're dumb and think they can cut through Mineral heaps."

"Now!" She turned to the mineral heap and turned on the tool she pulled from her bag. It was a cutting torch, salvaged from a wrecked SCV on Char. The gases from the various tanks mixed, sustaining a narrow, incredibly hot chemical flame. "Since I'm the only one here with thumbs, you all get to watch your queen do a bit of manual labor."

The Mineral heap she picked spiked out in many areas, and it gleamed a beautiful, translucent blue as she cut off one of the extremities with her torch. It went through remarkably fast, and the chunk fell off within ten seconds.

Saraslha bent down, pointing the flame safely away, set the fuel tanks on the ground and picked up the cut off chunk. She threw it underhand toward the Hatchery as far as she could; only halfway. One of the Zerglings ran up to it and circled around it. It pushed the chunk the rest of the way using the top of its head. After rolling it up the Hatchery's mass a bit, the chunk was sucked into one of the requisite large pores.

"Yessss… Mineralsss…" She whispered this under her breath. The sight of a Hatchery consuming minerals tended to give her a giddy feeling. Like something valuable was being harvested and stored for future use; equivalent to saving money. This feeling had literal foundation in truth.

In this way, Saraslha gathered mineral chunks one by one. She kept count, and carried the last one it needed over herself. Once it absorbed into the Hatchery's pore, she slumped, sitting with her back against the structure. She felt a few of its larvae slither out from under her. She gave the mental command, and one of these slithering, millipede-like bugs birthed by the Hatchery morphed rapidly into an egg.

Exhausted, she looked absently at the egg next to her. Bringing her hand on top of it to pat its green outer shell; the fruit of her several minutes of work with a cutting torch. Technically it was a cocoon; a pupal stage of development. But they looked more like eggs, so that's what they were called in spoken language.

It was a brief spurt of time before the egg's shell broke, releasing a fully grown, fresh new Drone which promptly headed over to the mineral heaps and began mining.

Saraslha remained put, relaxing. "Hot day, isn't it Mister Hydralisk?" her spot was in the shade of the Hatchery, and Sephulli, even on high ground, was hot and moist. She looked up at the Hydralisk. "You can come over to the shade, if you like. I don't mind sharing."

The Hydralisk remained put in the direct sunlight.

"Yeah… you don't give a shit, do you?" The Drone deposited a Mineral chunk into a pore next to her, and she sank deeper into relaxation. "It's good to be the queen, I must say."

Enough minerals ingested by the Hatchery, and she had another larva morph into a Drone cocoon. She surveyed the surrounding area through her Overlord's eyes. It had the vantage point of being airborne. She was especially keen on the direction of the nearby renegade cluster.

Four, then eight, then fourteen drones came to mine from the mineral heaps in no amount of time. She also had two additional Overlords made, which she sent out to scout. Saraslha was on her feet now, pacing about and examining the terrain around the Hive Cluster. One Drone was ordered atop the Vespene Geyser, where it morphed into something which entered each hole with a wide tube-like tendril before swelling into a heaping mass, covering the entire geyser. Another Drone became another pulsating lump atop the creep spread by the Hatchery.

The Hydralisk and two Zerglings were sent to idle between the Hatchery and the spot at the treeline that pointed in the direction of the nearby renegade cluster.

Saraslha had experience with this. Many war games; sparring matches but with armies had been played against the Broodmothers on Char. They would each pick a spot, starting with a Hatchery and a token number of Drones. The game would continue until the leader of one side was killed, or made to surrender. Though this time she was up against leaderless renegades, once she attacked one Hive Cluster, they might all end up recognizing her as a threat.

The pulsating lump opened, revealing a Spawning Pool. The one atop the Geyser had become an Extractor, meant to draw on the Vespene Gas from underground and condense it into liquid form. It was then stored in oval-shaped, organically formed bags. She sent a handful of Drones to truck these bags to the Hatchery as they were produced.

The greater the mass of a Zerg breed, the more Minerals would be required to convert into the biomass forming its adult body. Vespene Gas was required for Breeds which needed extra energy in the beginning of their life, beyond what their metabolism could provide on its own. A Hydralisk or Mutalisk with no Vespene Gas used in its incubation would immediately wander off to look for food, its survival needs overwhelming even the commands of its controller. They would then die of malnutrition after a brief spurt of time if they did not find enough to eat.

The Spawning Pool was a highly specialized, stationary organism like the Hatchery. Its green liquid, exposed to outside air by design, was the perfect habitat for cultivating microorganisms, which helped Zerg organisms to maintain their rapid metabolisms, repair physical damage, and resist disease and infection. When Saraslha leaned over the tooth-lined wall and smelled its fumes as the liquid filled up, it felt like she was sniffing pure health. All it required was a small sample size per organism, and then the microorganisms lived, operated, and reproduced independently inside the creature. These microbes were symbionts, of a caliber only the Zerg could produce.

The Creep underneath her feet pulsed with veins and arteries underneath. Via this means, the Spawning Pool exported its microbe-bearing liquid to the Hatchery, which would in turn gift all newly formed eggs with it. With an abundance of Drones and a steady mineral income, she ordered every larva into an egg. Each and all of them would hatch into two Zerglings. Trying to cultivate Zerglings without a Spawning Pool would produce sickly specimens with low stamina. Now that she had one she could make more to supplement the two she brought.

One of the two Overlords she sent out to scout had been spying on the nearby renegade Cluster. She examined it more closely. It was a small affair, with a handful of drones, a single Hatchery with a Spawning Pool and Hydralisk Den. And two Sunken Colonies.

She chuckled at the sight of the Sunken Colonies; stationary Zerg that spread Creep, and drove a pointed tentacle through the ground to attack enemies from below. The main Swarm had long since replaced them with more efficient Spine Crawlers, after having separated the creep-spreading trait to Creep Tumors and not requiring every defensive structure to add an extraneous contribution to the already established Creep spread. These Renegades had to have lost their leader a long time ago.

Still… Her hand wandered down between her legs, imagining the Sunken Colonies shooting their spikes vertically out of the ground. She wasn't quite keen on leading the attack herself.

There were eight eggs atop the Larvae birthed by Saraslha's Hatchery after their formation. They hatched into Sixteen Zerglings which immediately came under her psionic control.

Pain. The Overlord spying on the enemy Cluster was spotted by one of its handful of Hydralisks, and it had primed its upper head and fired razors at it. They buried into the creature's soft flesh, and it turned and flew away out of instinct.

Saraslha ordered the sixteen newly hatched Zerglings out into the Jungle thicket, and the Overlord to adjust its course. The Renegade Hydralisk followed it, taking a shot with its long range attack whenever it could. Two more renegade Hydralisks joined the hunt.

The Overlord was slowly, surely brought to death by a thousand cuts as the relentless Hydralisks continued pursuing it through the thick flora, and continued taking shots through the upper canopy. Its flight failed it, and it crashed through the tree limbs, landing atop the thick vegetation on the ground.

The three Hydralisks swarmed around it, cutting it up with their claw arms and eating off it. Saraslha sensed its pain and its death.

And her face became a stone-hard glare.

Her sixteen new Zerglings had slowly, stealthily surrounded the scene, moving rapidly under cover of the thick vegetation. They shot out of cover and rushed the three Hydralisks from behind. The Zerglings at close range jumped onto them. The ones at medium range leaned up extending out their fifth and sixth upper limbs, getting their long claws past their mark and then jerking back, putting all their weight behind ripping their target open.

The Hydralisks were bigger than the Zerglings, and inevitably had more muscle mass. They were able to throw their assailants off of themselves, and fight back with their clawed arms. But the Zerglings outnumbered them sixteen to three.

It was over in seconds. The Hydralisks were pulled down onto the ground through joint effort, and then mauled to death by the small, energetic, numerous killing machines.

The Overlord was dead. A new egg had formed next to Saraslha's Hatchery which would become its replacement. She looked up at her flock of Mutalisks. _"Go,"_ She ordered. The Mutalisks, and the two original Zerglings headed out.

" _Not you, Mister Hydralisk."_ Two Drones from her now huge staff of them went out near the outer circle of the Creep spread and formed into two lumps which would become Spine Crawlers. _"You stay here with me. We guard the Hive Cluster."_

She had enough resources. All of the Larvae the Hatchery made in the interim were made into more Zergling eggs. Another Drone was ordered to morph into a Roach Warren; another stationary creature that supplied the necessary fibers and nutrients to cultivate Roaches, with all their specialized traits and functions. Roaches were medium range, acid-spitting combatants that could absorb elements from soil to quickly regenerate wounds.

Saraslha shifted focus to micromanaging her attack force. The Zerglings waited out of range for the Mutalisks to kill the feral Cluster's Sunken Colonies from the safety of being airborne, launching razor-sharp projectiles designed to ricochet. Once they were dead, the Zerglings moved in and they killed the remaining defenders. Both groups proceeded upon its now defenseless Hatchery and Drones.

"My Brood will grow and spread." She said aloud. "It will take this Plateau, then the surrounding area below, and eventually the entire planet!"

And then she remembered; her control limit. Even with Overlords, she could only control so many underlings at once…

The anger at this limitation made her wheel around to face the cliff edge near her Hive Cluster. She raised her hand and fired a psi energy bolt. It was narrow and weak, and did not go far.

"Why?" She was bent over now, her hand gripping around her forehead. The scalp of her head had psionic cords growing out of it, of the same that would be found on a Broodmother. But they were short and stubby, barely covering her scalp, and refused to grow past that certain length.

"Why, mother? Why would you make me weak on purpose?" She squeezed harder, but then had to take her hand off because it hurt her skull. She looked at her hand again. Her human-like hand.

* * *

Stukov's army was comprised entirely of infested Terrans. The Broodmothers of the Swarm did not know what to do with these irregular combatants, and ended up using Stukov's irregular swarm as a dumping ground for them. He accepted these misfits, and was able to organize them into a proper outfit. His base was nigh identical to any other Terran base, but for the obvious marks of infestation on its structures and personnel. Given this, the infestation did not interfere with any functionalities of the rugged human technology.

"I'll give it to you, Benjamin. You picked a good spot for our base camp." Stukov said this to his Lieutenant.

"Thank you, Vice Admiral." He replied. They were walking together within the infested Terran base. It was set on high ground, at the foot of the plateau Saraslha had landed on. "Though I am concerned regarding its proximity to the Princess."

Stukov nodded at this. "Once the little one starts expanding down here, we'll have to lift all our structures, and migrate away so she doesn't find us."

"We have a more pressing matter in the meantime." Benjamin said. They stopped at the base entrance, where a pair of bunkers had been constructed. "Perimeter scans have detected thousands of kilograms of Zerg biomass grouped nearby. They are building up for an attack."

"Mm, I can sense them." He looked off with his aura-concealed eyes. "They're organized. Do you think it's Broodmother Rindell?"

Infested Benjamin shook his head. "Rindell's Hive Cluster is twenty five clicks away. Even if she built a force this size already, she would not send it past the Princess and after us."

"Your reasoning is sound, Benjamin. But it leaves the question: who's organizing these ones?"

"I want to deal with our immediate threat. Then focus on intelligence gathering." A newly built Siege Tank came from the section of the base with a pair of factories. It stopped at a spot well behind the bunkers, and transformed into a stationary artillery gun, aiming its main cannon into an upward arc and laying down stabilizing feet.

"I leave the defense of this base to you, Benjamin." Stukov said. "I'll head out on my own to do the intelligence gathering."

"By dealing with this Zerg force, we will be indirectly assisting the Princess." Benjamin said, frowning. "It may be seen as a breach of our orders."

"Don't worry about it." Stukov was genuinely curious as to what was controlling these particular Zerg, and wanted to find the source for himself. He headed back into the base, leaving the Infested Lieutenant Benjamin to his duties.

The base was an oval formation of structures surrounding a wide, clear center area. He went to the section with the pair of factories. A circle of infested Terrans were seated at an unfolded round table, behind a row of ten Vulture bikes leaning on their kick stands. They were playing Texas Hold 'em.

The infested people looked Stukov's way as he approached. He stopped next to their table. They looked tense. "Not to worry. None of you are in trouble." None of them spoke. "I need to borrow one of your bikes."

One of them reached into a back pocket with stiff, inarticulate motions. He pulled out a ring of dangling keys and passed them to Stukov, who caught them naturally.

"Much appreciated." He turned to the row of Vultures.

"Far… Right…" The infested Terran said with vocal cords he had difficulty using.

He went to the far right Vulture, and hopped on it. With the keys in, he flipped up the kick stand and primed its two turbine thrusters. He looked back at their table. "I'll try to bring it back in one piece." The thrusters tried to propel the bike forward. Even on idle, they had a kick. He held it in place with his feet on the ground and holding onto the yoke.

The infested man saluted stiffly. "For… the Swarm."

"For the Swarm." He saluted as well as he sat and lifted his feet off the ground. He accelerated into the base center, and then leaned and made a tight turn toward the base entrance before heading out past the bunkers at full throttle.

* * *

Saraslha was able to produce a sizable force in a very brief period of time. Once this was done, she directed them to the Renegade Hive Clusters on the plateau, killing the lightly defended settlements one by one and replacing them with her own Hatcheries.

She was furious at the feral Zerg, and could not get the image of the dead Overlord out of her head. The memory of sensing its pain and the end of its life. It made her want to kill all of them; to wipe them out. The Overlord's pragmatic expendability; it being an acceptable loss, meant nothing. The Overlord was her faithful servant, and they killed it.

Without a higher intelligence, the feral Zerg were dumb animals. Dumb animals that posed a threat to her brood; her useful and productive minions to whom she had given a purpose. The Feral Zerg had no purpose, but they posed a threat to those who did, and would kill them if given the chance. This mindset made her happy to see their Hive Clusters ripped apart and burned with Roach acid. To see their stragglers hunted down and killed. Her Brood was ridding the planet of a blight, which would hinder the march of life no longer.

Her main Hive Cluster had grown considerably. A bigger, more advanced Hatchery, and more specialized, stationary breeds which supplied unique biomasses. Her selection of combat breeds had increased.

Saraslha was seated inside one of her Overlords. She had around twenty of them now, and they patrolled over her territory in even and interchangeable patterns. The one she occupied was no exception; a method of protecting herself. There was no way for an outsider to know which of the near-identical flying creatures contained her.

It did not take long. Her brood took over the entire plateau, occupying every area on the elevated piece of land that had a decent number of resources. The ground at her first Hatchery had become uneven and overturned; the minerals on the surface were harvested completely, and her Drones were getting at deposits they could find underground. They'd dug a deep trench around the Creep circle in their search for more minerals.

Each separated Hive Cluster was being connected, gradually, by a webwork of underground arteries. In this way, each separate cell could share resources and specialized biomass. Saraslha also had a Nydus network made, its central hub located at the main Cluster.

And then something odd. One of the patrolling Overlords wandered in range of another psionic presence. She had it stay in place, so as not to lose the signal. And then, like a psionic relay station, she waxed her telepathic reach through it.

She heard a voice; another mind: _"Who goes there?"_

Saraslha somewhat recognized the voice. It sounded like a Broodmother. But that's impossible, she thought. A renegade swarm this old would not have free-thinking Swarm Queens. _"My name is Saraslha, of the Zerg Swarm._ _I'm afraid this planet belongs to me now. I must politely suggest you skip town. If you don't, I cannot guarantee your safety."_

" _You are in a position to guarantee nothing, little princess. Least of all claim a world."_

Now she knew who it was. The manner of speaking was unmistakable. _"Rindell!"_ Her psionic voice exclaimed. _"You cheeky son of a bitch. What are you doing out here?"_

" _It is I who claims this world, and I whom cannot guarantee your safety, should you fail to take your leave promptly."_

Saraslha knew Broodmother Rindell from a Zerg world close to Dominion space, frequently visited by Zagara and by Saraslha accompanying her. Rindell was a younger queen, subordinate to the senior Broodmother who controlled the planet. The two had a war game every visit.

Saraslha jerked leaning forward involuntarily, in the physical space of the Overlord she rode inside. _"I'm not going anywhere you cocky piece of ass."_ Everything about Rindell pissed her off. She never bothered to learn why. _"What's your plan, here? You know you can't beat me."_

" _We're not playing with limits here, little princess. These are the big leagues. My control is ultimately larger than yours."_

It just occurred to Saraslha that their connection was going through a single Overlord in range as a relay. It heard all of their bickering back and forth. She chuckled at the idea of it understanding their speech and putting up with it.

" _Oh look at you,"_ she said to Rindell. _"Talking some big shit like she has experience."_

There was a pause. She sensed Rindell, but Rindell waited before speaking. _"Typical Terran smack talk. Nothing more ought be expected, from Zagara's little snowflake."_

Saraslha calmed, her demeanor became reserved, and it became livid. _"When I'm done with you, Rindell, you're going to wish you were in hell, with your back broke."_ It was obvious the reason she was here. And Saraslha was going to do, what the Zerg typically do, to beings that get in their way.

She cut the connection, and re-oriented her mind's eye to her Swarm. It had grown much from the initial Hatchery, and dotted the plateau with a web of Hive Clusters.

"I know what she's going to do, Mister Hydralisk."

The Hydralisk was in there with her. She'd kept it close for the hell of it, in spite of now having made more of them in her buildup of combat breeds. It was laying there, looking bored.

"She's going to overwhelm me with sheer numbers, since her control can get bigger than mine. I'm going to assume she's had to kill feral hives the same as me, in order to expand."

The Hydralisk shifted a little.

"But not to worry!" She stood up, raising an index finger in a commanding, childish gesture. "Rindell is Rindell, and I…" she twitched. "I really don't like her."

The Hydralisk clicked a bit, from an abrupt inhale; a yawn.

"Yes, I agree." She said, sitting back down. "Rindell is indeed a sucky person. Just…" Her head shook rapidly. "So sucky."


	3. Scorched Earth

Alexei Stukov raced through the thick flora on his borrowed Vulture. He neared the Zerg force gathering for an attack on his base. They heard his loud vehicle and noticed him. As he circled them from a good distance, he pulled his sidearm and took a shot. The heavy-caliber bullet found its way to the head of a Zergling, puncturing into its brain and killing it.

One dead Zergling was nothing to a Zerg army. But they smelled the blood, sensed its death, and subsequently they recognized him as a threat. A large portion of them gave chase. Their Hydralisks primed their upper heads and fired blades at him.

Alexei ducked as he turned away from the Zerg, still moving at high speed. Nonetheless, Hydralisks had predictive aiming ability on par with a computer. A blade hit and dug itself into his arm, and another into his side. Three of them buried into the metallic construction of his Vulture.

The bike was swift, and once he turned it away it was a simple matter to outrun even their fastest-running breeds. He'd poked the Zerg force, and now a chunk of them would be allocated away from the attack on his base to hunt him down. He emerged out of the jungle to an expanse of lifeless dirt and stone terrain. There were cracks in the ground, and the smell of sulfur became prevalent. A large limestone plateau was visible in the distance, along with another even further away; the planet was covered with them.

He freed a hand off the yoke, and reached over to pull the Hydralisk blades out of his arm and side. He barely bled, even when removing them. And once they were out of the way, his wounds regenerated quickly.

"Now… to find whatever is controlling them." He said aloud as he stayed on course, speeding along the uneven, open ground.

* * *

Saraslha was seated on her knees next to a large, flat elevation of limestone serving as a table. It was next to her main Hive Cluster, whose creep was spread under her sitting spot and over the stone. An empty Vespene Gas bag sat on the table, produced by one of the Extractors by manual request. Through its opening normally meant for filling it with Vespene, she drippled a large number of puny, bug-sized Zerg. She'd spun the sequences for the tiny bugs manually, and without much care, simply copying most of the essence from a tiny bug indigenous to Sephulli, and which annoyed her by trying to fly into her eyes and orifices.

Once the stiff bag was a quarter full of the tiny bugs, she laid the ovular container on its side and picked up the end of a hose. The hose was for the chemical tanks, now detached from their cutting torch. She capped the end on the opening pore, and opened the master valve, causing it to eject its chemical mix into the Vespene bag full of tiny bugs.

Vespene bags had a special property. In order to be filled with condensed gas without any impurities, it was able to filter out all air particles found in the local atmosphere while keeping the gas inside. This was done on the cellular level, and spread throughout its entire tissue not covered by its veiny framework. It took only the slightest of tweaks to make it think of the flammable chemical mix as Vespene Gas, and let it collect inside while the common air particles exited.

Once the chemical mix was nearly the entire atmosphere inside the bag, she shut the main valve on the tanks, and gave the mental command for the bag to shut its orifice.

" _My Queen, there is something I believe you need to know."_

Saraslha got on her feet, and turned. The voice came from a small, young Swarm Queen. They were kilometers apart, and their communication telepathic. _"Listen, I know you were only born a few hours ago,"_ she said to it. _"But I need you to run things while I'm working. Expand the brood to that other plateau you're at; ignore the low ground. And try not to botch things."_

" _That is why I come to you, my Queen. I have had a run-in with Broodmother Rindell's forces. A minor skirmish, but your territory and hers are beginning to border."_

This was inevitable. Rindell had landed a fair distance away, but sooner or later their mutually expanding broods would meet. Going back to Char and snitching to her mother about it was the last thing she wanted to do; thinking about it made her stomach churn. _"I promised the Overqueen that I'd leave no Zerg alive on this planet, and that's what I intend to do."_

" _What would you have me do?"_ The young, simpleminded being asked.

 _Take the rest of the high ground you're at, and then stop there. Be defensive. If attacked, you are not to counterattack."_

" _But what if I see an opening; a chance to strike?"_

It occurred to Saraslha that her orders appeared irrational. No attacking under any circumstance was a collective judgement of every scenario her officer could possibly end up in, and would inevitably result in grievous error. She looked back, at her experiment. Thousands of small bugs were being killed by the gases inside the Vespene container. She did this… because she needed one of them –just one- to survive, and resist the substances forced on them. " _Be it as it may, you will not assault Rindell's brood unless I give you the go ahead."_

"I-"

" _Now, I understand it is inconvenient. You've got enthusiasm; I can always appreciate that. But there's a plan, and I need you to follow the plan."_

" _Understood, my Queen."_

"Perfect!" She said in a chipper tone as she mentally hung up, and returned to her experiment. Saraslha could sense the fading life force of each individual bug in the container. By having converted them into Zerg breeds, the rate of the project could be accelerated. She could reproduce them to the next generation in minutes. Saraslha combed her senses through each now limp bug body, looking for one survivor, just one sign of life. "I'm really sorry I did this to you poor fellows." She was talking to the dead bugs. "But I can assure you it's for the greater good… well," she stopped herself. "My greater good, at least."

And she found one survivor. She combed a bit more, and found three, out of the thousands of dead bugs. There were three who survived the gases. Saraslha took their essence.

The next batch of bugs all had the gas-resisting qualities of the three survivors, their essence having been copied and replicated. In the second test, they all survived. She sensed their mutations; the blind, extreme attempts by each individual bug to come closer to a favorable state of living. Nearly all of these mutations failed. A tiny handful of them succeeded, enhancing the organism's resistance to the gases.

The next batch would have these successful mutations. These bug batches costed a fraction of a single Zergling in minerals to incubate, given their miniscule mass. She could keep going.

* * *

Broodmother Rindell's control capacity was much higher than that of Saraslha. This was an advantage she'd always been denied in their war games. To keep such matches from getting out of hand, a strict overall population cap was enforced on both sides, and Saraslha was never forced beyond her limit.

" _But not here. Not in the real world."_ She spoke inside her own mind. Rindell never won a single match against Saraslha. And when she tried to settle the matter in a duel, Saraslha would always say no, keep out of harm's way and defeat her with minions. Rindell would always be forced to declare submission; her surrender, in order to keep her life. Rindell wanted nothing more than to fight the frail creature fairly. Power against power.

" _And now, I will have that."_ There was nobody to regulate them on this distant planet. She could expand her brood with no limits. Exert her superior control capacity, and crush Saraslha.

" _I will have back my dignity."_ All of the times she'd been forced to declare submission. Humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat. Now, it was her time. Now she would get back what she lost.

" _Saraslha, you are a fluke. Any power you hold is borrowed from the Swarm. And it will not be enough to save you now."_ She found it incomprehensible that Overqueen Zagara would create something like Saraslha, and then place it up as her incumbent heir. Zagara was the Queen of Blades' second; number two to the most revered being in the Zerg conscious. She had the respect of all the Swarm. But this… frail creation was a mistake.

" _And I… am going to correct that mistake."_ Sephulli was rich with resources and life. Rindell's brood had occupied a massive chunk of territory, spreading and multiplying. She could not see Saraslha's entire brood, but she estimated that once their armies confronted, Rindell would outnumber Saraslha three to one.

* * *

Essence from the Vespene Extractor; its ability to condense a gaseous particle into liquid form, and keep it that way inside a sturdy container would be important for what she had in mind.

Saraslha had various essences laid on her rock/creep table, contained inside gelatinous blobs which were of a similar composition to a Spawning Pool's liquid. These blobs kept the samples healthy and alive while being examined and operated on. If Terran medical science had something that did something similar for humans, they would be able to immerse a patient in it and perform surgeries previously considered impossible for the patient to live through. But as it stood, the Dominion's progress in biological fields was lacking. The Queen of Blades was once kept alive by this means after being badly wounded. The torrent of symbiotic microbes kept her systems running while patiently repairing the damage.

She had to keep focused on the task at hand. There had long been Zerg capable of storing, replenishing and delivering deadly acids on their enemy. The question her creative mind brought to this was: Why does it always need to be acid?

She'd worked out the design of the main body. It would have to be dense, and a bit stocky and sluggish. Its rapid Zerg metabolism would enable it to move quickly with excellent stamina, but its large amount of mass would inevitably heighten its cost.

Its main weapon would require certain compounds, of which it would have a finite supply. Easily the most difficult part of development was conceiving a means by which it could synthesize the compounds for itself, even if gradually over time. Saraslha had her tablet out, browsing the Dominion's FTL internet. She was looking through a Chemistry for dummies website, and cross-referencing its information with chemical reactions which a Zerg organism might be able to produce independently.

She carefully picked two gelatinous blobs on her rock, and merged them into one. The two small Zerg inside met, and fought. One absorbed the others' essence and became bigger, more detailed. After adding more, tiny experimental organisms to its blob and letting the bigger creature absorb them, she reached her hand inside and pulled it out. It struggled, still tiny compared to her. Its little clippers snapped at the air and its tail-like rear body wriggled and swayed.

She hung the rear body of the lobster-like creature over a clear spot on her workspace. There was a rear orifice at the tip of its rear body, which slowly gathered a droplet of liquid before dripping it. She patiently let it excrete a few more droplets of this liquid. There were processes inside the organism, producing a variety of chemicals in the tiniest quantity each, all merging to the droplet which landed on the clear spot of her table.

Satisfied, she stuffed the creature back into its green blob. It swam around inside, evidently relieved. She then took a simple metal tool; the igniter for her cutting torch.

She struck it over the tiny pool of liquid, causing it to be showered in sparks. The result was an eruption of heat and fire. The blue flame made her face feel cooked, and she backed away out of impulse. It lasted less than a second, but it rose at least twenty centimeters, and was literally hot as hell. The creep on that spot, and several centimeters into the limestone had been burned through. Saraslha grinned. Her project was a success, and now it was only a matter of putting the pieces together.

" _My Queen, Rindell's attacks have intensified. She is committing to an assault on the second plateau."_ The voice came from another of her hastily made lieutenant minds. Senior Broodmothers would create them and put them in charge of certain areas when operations expanded to the point that the need to delegate became apparent. A general cannot run an army on their own; they need officers.

Saraslha knew the gravity of this report. While she was occupying herself with tinkering, Rindell was expanding and invading her territory. Saraslha's brood had taken a second plateau further ahead, not settling anything on the low ground.

The fact that Rindell had committed to the attack meant she would not stop until the second plateau was taken, or her numbers were exhausted. And Rindell's numbers were superior. They would not exhaust before Saraslha's. She was going to lose the second Plateau, and then the one with her main Hive Cluster. It was only a matter of time.

But Saraslha had a card to play. A card she had just created, and which was now ready to implement. _"Pull out."_ She said to her officer. _"I want you to abandon the second plateau. Break out of their encirclement and get back here with all the forces you can."_

" _Are you certain of this?"_ The Swarm Queen on the second plateau was skeptical. _"We are on defensible high ground right now. It seems foolish to abandon such a strong position."_

" _I know. Do it anyway."_ Saraslha said.

Another of her lieutenant minds interjected, _"My Queen, might I suggest a sky bridge of Overlords for pulling our forces out of the Second Plateau? They would be difficult for the enemy to shoot down from the low ground."_

Saraslha thought of this as a good idea, but it posed a risk of giving away her plan. She had to appear desperate to Rindell, not in control. _"I'm afraid that's a no can do. You need to break out overland. Cross the low ground and fight through Rindell's forces."_

" _Might I at least break out in the direction of her Hive Clusters, my Queen? I can catch her by surprise and—"_

" _Listen people."_ Saraslha said casually to all of them. _"I'm loving the energy here. But Rindell is a competent tactician. What we're sensing is not her entire force. She has even more in reserve."_

" _So if I assault her Hive Cluster…"_

" _Bingo. You'll meet those reserves, and then she pulls back forces from the field to encircle your ass."_

" _She outnumbers us three to one. How do you plan to win, if you will not take the initiative?"_

These several hours old Swarm Queens were born with inherent knowledge. Each and all of their minds had a basic understanding of military tactics. _"You all understand compartmentalization, don't you?"_

" _Yes,"_

" _Of course."_

" _Certainly."_ They all said.

" _Well, I know something you all don't. I need you to follow my orders, and not understand them."_

Their psionic voices became content. She logged off on this note, and her attention went back to her physical location. She was at her main Hive Cluster. It had grown considerably from when it first started. Her first Hatchery was now a Hive; the final form of the stationary creature's three-phase development.

Saraslha sensed it was full of resources. A giant vacuole underground stored a vast reserve of broken down Minerals and condensed Vespene Gas. However, she was kept from making a larger army by her psi limit. The forces she had were all she could control at a given time. It didn't matter how rich she was; Rindell was going to crush her.

She sensed her Lieutenant mind on the second plateau. She was pulling all of her forces there into a single horde, and heading out to break Rindell's encirclement. Her other two officers were elsewhere on the main Hive Cluster's plateau, where all of her reserves were kept. These reserves, and the away force on the second Plateau comprised Saraslha's entire Brood.

One of her Drones came out next to the creep near her workspace. The essence had been spun and completed, and she had the Drone morph into a lump. As the breathing lump formed, she infused it with the new essence. It would become something new; something no Zerg had ever been. The stationary creature which this Drone would morph into would produce specialized biomass, and provide it to Saraslha's massive Hive, as well as her network of Hive Clusters.

"This… is it." She said aloud with her vocals. Not to any of her minions now. "This is what they call… serious ground? The chips being down?" Everything would hinge on what happened in the next couple of hours.

Saraslha would not run. She had no doubt that Rindell would kill her if given the chance. But she would not run. The thought of returning… without a Leviathan, without completing her task. The thought of her mother sighing, and shaking her head in disappointment. This thought terrified her.

Saraslha stared into the ground. Stared into the creep of her main Hive Cluster. "I'm… afraid," she said to herself. She was also alone. "I've never… never…" Never had a challenge like this.

Her claws buried into her hand as her fist clenched, and her face became stone, stoic, serious. "Watch me, mother." She calmed, but also became more tense; more focused. "I'm going to overcome this. I'm going to show you what I'm capable of."

* * *

The two Zerg armies clashed in the low ground between Plateaus. In the thick flora of Sephulli, the green became awash in blood. Projectiles in the form of spine blades and acid flew in both directions.

There was no relent, no ebb and flow. The Zerg on either side were at a constant state of rapid motion and ruthless, furious, efficient killing.

The titanic Ultralisks unleashed tremors in their step, and cut through smaller breeds with their massive, sharpened tusks. They were high-priority targets. Bladed projectiles, acid and small, bold melee breeds rained down on each individual in abundance. Their carapace was dense, and thick, and could take the punishment.

The small Zerglings with short attack reach were great in number, great in speed and great in ferocity. They were the flimsy, killable champions of the Swarm. Always an asset no matter how great their loss of life. They fought and killed and died for the Swarm.

Hydralisks were the Professionals. Ranged attacks with accuracy from a safe distance. A more filled out size. Their reach, versatility and abundant number made them mainstays.

One Swarm had pressed into the mass of the other. They concentrated in the center, and tried to push through; to breach their horde.

But more of their number flooded in from either end of the low ground pass. Their reinforcements seemed endless, and they closed an encirclement around the force trying to break out. Its commander was a young Swarm Queen, ordered to break out of the encirclement via land assault. Her head was lopped off by the powerful, inward swing of an Ultralisk's tusks.

The attacking force was completely encircled. And after a long 7 minutes of pitched battle, it was eliminated. The Hive Clusters they'd abandoned on the Second Plateau met the same fate.

* * *

Broodmother Rindell was immensely pleased. She observed this attempted breakout, and saw their effort crushed under her stream of reinforcements. The Second Plateau was taken, and all that remained of Saraslha's brood was her primary elevation of land, wherein lied her main Hive Cluster. Saraslha had made a wise decision to camp entirely on high ground, but this had to be an act of panic. There was no worming out of her fate. They possessed the same variety of breeds, and Rindell had the greater number.

There was no way Saraslha could replenish her numbers in time for Rindell's final assault. It would come swiftly. And it would come without mercy.

" _Princess Saraslha."_ Rindell processed this word and the name with the utmost spite in her tone. _"Now, Nature will be allowed to take its natural course. A deliberately obsolete creature like you has no place among the Swarm."_

* * *

"Broodmother Rindell…" Saraslha said this aloud. Her tone was piteous; regretful. "I wish there was a place for everybody in the Swarm. I wish all life could have the hope and opportunity I feel that I have. But…"

She looked ahead, her gaze leveled. The attempted breakout by her brood happened in view of her main Hive Cluster. Down a steep part of the incline surrounding her final bastion of high ground. She saw the whole thing personally. "An animal like you, has no place in my Swarm." All of the slain Zerg were her loyal servants. And now they were gone. This sparked fury in her; sparked her anger, her desire to kill.

Every Drone on resource-gathering duty, from every Hive Cluster on her Plateau was ordered out to the Creep along the ledge, and atop the steep incline in the land all around the broad perimeter of her plateau. Here, every one of them morphed into a pulsating lump. They drew from the network of arteries; from her vast reserves of resources.

In addition, every larva at every Hive Cluster was ordered into an egg.

Her resource reserves were taxed heavily, but there was enough. Rindell's Brood wasted no time gathering their already amassed force from the battlefield in the low ground, and heading up to Saraslha's final bastion.

All along the perimeter atop the plateau, the thickly arranged line of lumps continued to pulsate; continued to develop. Rindell's Brood rose halfway up the steep incline. Saraslha did not even send her reserves to try and delay them.

Saraslha felt it. The new lumps were about to emerge, fully developed. She sent her mental focus to one of her Overlords. And then made sure what she had to say reached Rindell: _"Checkmate, in three."_

Rindell did not reply to this. But Saraslha knew she heard it, and sensed the sudden onslaught of apprehension in her mind. In every one of their war games, she said this to her, right before setting off a cascade of events that led to her victory and Rindell's defeat. The assaulting breeds continued up to the Plateau.

And the dozens of lumps emerged, their forms fully developed. _"First move after call."_

They looked like Spore Crawlers; the anti-aircraft counterparts to Spine Crawlers. But they were roughly twice the mass. The spore section was atop a large, bulky base above ground.

They fired a peculiar liquid in a steady, high-pressure jet. It was fired in an arc, down onto the plateau's incline, and showered large swaths of Rindell's assault force while it flowed downhill. These sprayers distributed their output evenly like a directed fire hose, covering the entire perimeter of the section of the Plateau which Rindell's assault came up.

Saraslha waited. Just a few more halves of a second…

Fire. An ignition, delayed by design. Every single surface, living or otherwise touched by this liquid was consumed by a blue flame that burned hot enough to melt steel, and even eat through the solid sediment comprising the Plateau underneath its topsoil. Saraslha had christened them Fire Fountains.

The Fire Fountains did not let up with their callous, constant delivery of this deadly napalm. They drew on Saraslha's Vespene Gas reserves, not as a conversion material but as an energy source; as long as her network provided them with Gas, these creatures could keep their production glands in overdrive, producing the chemicals comprising their mix as fast as their delivery system could hose it out.

The assaulting Zerg were killed in swaths. They could not pass where it fell on the ground and erupted into a flame barrier. They were tightly packed in their push up the incline. There was nowhere to hide, and no protection from this searing hot death from above. Saraslha had built dozens of the Fountains, and their cumulative firepower was enough to drown the assault force. Their Ultralisks were resilient, and survived longer than any of the other assaulting Brood. But when they were the only creatures to remain, the Fire Fountains focused on them, fueling the blue chemical flame on the massive creatures with a constant jet.

It did not matter that the Zerg were tolerant of extreme heat, or had acid-resistant carapaces. The chemical mixture burned beyond anything nature could produce on its own. It was such a high temperature as to disintegrate their biomass.

The entire incline up to the Plateau was charred black. Only a token amount of Rindell's tightly packed assault survived. Saraslha watched this personally as well, from a ledge angled in that direction, near her main Hive Cluster. She saw the hundreds of dead Zerg up, down and along the steep incline. The only ones to survive were at the far rear, or the broad edges of their formation. They had the opportunity to flee, and wisely did so.

Two formations of feet had approached behind her while she observed the smoking black landscape and equally black corpses of Rindell's disintegrated assault. She turned, and saw her remaining two officers. The semi-intelligent Swarm Queens she'd kept in reserve. "It's fine, you can say what you think." She said to them.

" _I had thought it was the beginning of the end, when Bri'kar's breakout failed."_

" _My Queen, Rindell is vulnerable. Send me to attack with everything we have."_

"Bri'kar's sacrifice will not be in vain. Believe me." Saraslha turned back to the charred black incline; the clouds of smoke. "You two are ready to finish this?"

" _I would think that it is finished."_

She shook her head. "Remember what I said about Rindell's reserves. That was only a third of her brood, at most. And the Fire Fountains won't be as effective now that the element of surprise is expended."

" _What is your command?"_

She turned back to them, then looked past them, at her Hive. At the eggs near it, now close to hatching. All of the eggs on all her remaining Hive Clusters were ready to hatch. And they were all the same thing.

* * *

Broodmother Rindell had been startled by Saraslha's chess call; the call she gave when she was certain of victory. And then Rindell was mortified by what Saraslha's new weapon did to her assault force. More than a third of her brood had been concentrated; packed together in that uphill assault on Saraslha's final stronghold.

Rindell stood near her main Hive Cluster; its Hive, surrounded by two Lairs and other stationary Zerg organisms. Her reserves were with her, the rest of her force was on the Second Plateau, and she still had a significant number advantage over Saraslha. Her cluster was situated at the foot of one of the planet's many limestone plateaus. Concealed under the jungle canopy.

It took her several minutes to come to grips with what happened. The Fire Fountains were not invincible; they had simply been the perfect thing to use at the perfect time in that perfect situation. They would be helpless against flying Zerg so long as they didn't come too low, and ineffective against an attack by widely spaced units.

" _I will admit that you are pretty clever."_ Rindell said aloud. _"But this changes nothing."_ She was already beginning to replenish her losses. _"The Swarm is numberless for me. And for you, it is but a passing blessing. You lack true power."_ Saraslha's tactical victory meant nothing. It did not change her control limit, did not change her frailty. _"And it does not change the nature of the Swarm."_

" _I'm going to lead the Swarm, Rindell. And be a hell of a lot more qualified than you."_

" _How are you in range of me?"_ Rindell said to Saraslha's voice.

" _Take a guess, genius."_

" _You've actually crawled out of your hole?"_

" _I'm coming to cook you and eat you up."_

Rindell was defiant at this. _"My Brood needs only kill one of your new toys to steal its essence and allow me to copy them. Your advantage will be short-lived."_

" _I've made my second move after call."_

" _Don't try to scare me with your metaphors. This is real life, not one of your gentlemanly war games."_

" _As custodian of this planet appointed by the Overqueen herself, I hereby deem you, and your Brood a disruption. Surrender, Rindell."_

She couldn't help but to laugh at this. _"You're acting quite arrogant. All the better for me, that your one victory goes to your head."_

There were broken, smoldering bubbles of rage in Saraslha's tone, _"You killed my people, you sucky, sucky piece of ass."_

" _What are you babbling about? Killing mindless animals is not something a thinking being has compunctions about."_

" _Yes…"_ A brief, half-second laugh from her psionic voice. _"You're correct about that."_

A dripping noise. Something wet splashed on Rindell's diadem-shaped head, and dribbled a bit down on her chest. It smelled foul.

She looked up. A giant leaf in the canopy above. It was shaped like a giant bowl, meant to catch rain. It was overflowing. The foul-smelling liquid had dripped from this leaf. _"What is the meaning of this..?"_

" _Third move, and checkmate."_

Instantly, the leaf disintegrated to black dust, revealing what was now a blue fireball. Without the leaf, it fell with gravity, down on Rindell.

Realizing the danger she was in, she ran ahead as fast as her formation of legs could go. Only the liquid on the outside of the blob burned as it fell. When it hit the creep, it splashed and spread.

The little bit that got on her diadem and chest erupted into blue flame as well. It destroyed her carapace on those spots, and the pain was unspeakable. The distraction messed up her frantic run, and the burning liquid distributed, spreading under her formation of legs. The uprising flame shot into her lower body. It didn't take more than a second for the unnaturally intense heat to reach the central hub of tendons for her legs, damaging them and causing her to go limp.

" _No!"_ She wailed as she was cooked alive. When the chemical flame wore out its fuel, leaving a circle of dead, charred creep, Broodmother Rindell was half-fried atop a raw, useless lower body. She was clinging to life.

In her state of agony, she felt confusion. Normally, she would be recalled to her main Hive, to recuperate inside a chrysalis. She opened her eyes, looked around, and saw her Hive Cluster in flames.

Hundreds of these leaves had been filled with the flame liquid. Her main Hive, and its Lairs were particularly focused on. Eaten away by the disintegrating fires and very much dead. Her reserves had come out of burrowing, unable to escape underground from the chemical reaction that charred pits into the very Earth. They ran about in a confused panic.

Even more of the liquid fell. Aimed pressured jets of it that picked and followed targets. It came from high above.

Rindell's head turned forward, and she saw Saraslha. Walking up to her, with a pair of breeds she'd never seen before. They looked like four-legged, armored tortoises. Their shelled bodies went taller than the top of their leader's head, and were outfitted with a ring-shaped gap in their shells on the very top. The soft ring of flesh inside this was lined with evenly arranged pores.

Saraslha's brood had come upon the disarrayed occupants of the Hive Cluster, and were hunting them like beasts. Rindell had not the strength to move, much less direct them.

"I'd like to explain something to you, Rindell."

" _How..?"_

"Watchposts, all over the place. As soon as I found your Hive cluster –found you- it was all over." She put both her hands on her two big tortoise friends. "There are a few dozen of these Pyrolisks up on the higher ground, dropped off by my Nydus Worm. You can thank them for your crippling injury, and your Cluster going up in flames." One of the Pyrolisks looked over past Rindell with its sleepy, tortoise-like head. All but one of the pores in the ring-shaped gap of its shell contracted shut, and it shot a jet of liquid out of the remaining open one. It was killing something out of her view.

" _This is not possible. You got lucky, you are weak."_

Saraslha shook her head, crouching down to better meet the collapsed Rindell's eyes. "You don't get it. I'm more powerful than you can imagine. You can't see it, so you simply assume it isn't there."

" _Your Swarm fights for you. You are defenseless by yourself."_ Even in this helpless state, Rindell would not submit to this frail creature. Not again.

She took a breath, and stood straight again. She turned, and leaned back on the large shell of one of her Pyrolisks. "I'm part Terran, probably a little over half, actually. This is why you don't accept me, right?"

" _Precisely."_

"Funny trait some Terrans have." She looked upward. "They're a courageous people, but some of them are full of bravado, of…" She turned her hand over, looking for the word. "Overconfidence. This overconfidence is not considered the same as courage, which has a positive connotation. And the thing about these particular overconfident Terrans, is that this bluster is always a cover, to conceal the fact that they don't know anything or understand anything."

" _Where are you going with—"_

Saraslha stopped her with a raised hand. "The Protoss, are a very wise people. So much knowledge, an amazing understanding of the Universe, its laws, its quirks, and their own place in it. But some Protoss will play Wisdom in a way that seems defiant. They'll act like they know what's going to happen when they actually don't. Entire sections of their society were taken to extinction by their vaunted infallibility. These particular, dead Protoss vaunted this wisdom, all in denial of the fact that they were powerless; that they can't actually have their way in the way they want to have it. They failed to adapt."

She continued. "Lastly, the Zerg. That's us, Rindell. We're a very powerful race. We can get our way in exactly the way we want to get it. And can adapt to nigh any circumstance." She looked down, at Rindell. "But there are some parts of our race that put up an act of power. Hold it up as everything, and arrogantly plow through opposition, pigheadedly unaware of the glaring weakness they've created in themselves. That weakness, Rindell, is cowardice."

" _You're calling me a coward, then?"_

Saraslha spread her arms. "I've beaten you, Rindell. I've always beaten you. And now, when given a chance to fight me without any restrictions, I still beat you. And yet still you make excuses. You tell me, Rindell. Are you a coward?"

" _I will never accept you as a peer. Much less Overqueen. It is unthinkable."_

Saraslha looked straight down at the ground, crouching. "Rindell, I got really angry at you today. I thought about killing you, wanted to kill you. But with a little bit of time, I changed my mind. This planet… this experience, is changing my mind about a lot of things. You've killed a lot of my people, and I a lot of yours. We were in competition, and I really, really wanted to win. And I did, but… The truth is…"

" _What?"_

She looked up from the ground, looking Rindell in the eye. "You're my brethren, Rindell. What we've done to each other…" She looked at her crippled lower body. "What I've done to you, is unforgivable."

" _That is typical, you are trying to pity me."_

"I don't want your submission, Rindell. And if you offered it to me now, I would turn it down."

Her eyes broadened at this, surprised.

Saraslha extended a hand. "I want the fighting to stop. That's all I ask. You take my hand, and I'll personally throw you into a Spawning Pool to heal up."

" _You want pacifism?"_

"Oh, no." She shook her head. "We'll fight, all the time. We have to." One of her two Pyrolisks looked off with its long, tortoise-like head, located low on its body. This time it decided not to burn something. "It's the intention that matters; the mindset. Our conflicts need to be about life, and its fitness to succeed. Not death and frustration."

" _It is I who would like to speak now, Saraslha."_

"Sure, say your piece."

" _I have always resented you. That is no secret. I thought of you as sheltered and advantaged. Only tested in ways that didn't push too hard or make you do anything you were bad at."_

"There are things I'm bad at." She conceded. "Controlling a sizable number of Zerg not least among them."

" _And you're always so braggadocios in your victories. You won, great, stop being annoying."_

She rolled her eyes. "I get what you're saying, I'm a sucky winner."

" _When you were being sent away from Char, away from the Overqueen, and made to complete a task without rules, out in the real world. I was overjoyed. I followed you here, wishing to fight you without restraint."_

"And here we are."

" _Now I see that your power is undeniable. I do not understand where it comes from, or its nature. But as I lay defeated, and you stand triumphant, it is I who is the fool, for not understanding the successful being."_

"I'm glad you're finally done making excuses, Rindell. You gonna stop trying to kill me now?"

" _I wish to join you. If you will have me, little Princess. I will do my utmost to be of use to you."_

Saraslha's hand was extended to the laid-down Rindell. She reached up, and took it.

With this, Saraslha pulled her arm over her shoulders, and got the Broodmother's large body atop her back. Saraslha was stronger than the average human, and was able to carry the bigger Rindell atop her back and shoulders with a squat and quick, heavy steps that alternated between different forms of being pressed into the ground. Rindell's damaged lower body hung off to the side, creating a weight imbalance which she had to compensate by leaning the other way.

Saraslha reached an intact Spawning Pool in the charred Hive Cluster, and dropped Rindell into it.

* * *

Alexei Stukov rode for an hour and a half. He'd gotten far enough ahead of the pursuing Renegade Zerg that they were no longer visible. He did not know if they were still after him. An hour ago, he got a report from his base that they'd successfully repelled the attack.

He was following the signal, the faint psionic signal coming from far away, and which he was certain was directing these Renegades. An hour and a half of riding, and he arrived at one of the many, many plateaus that seemed to dot the planet. It was in the badland, where flora was sparse and there were sulfur pits. The rise in the ground was host to a broad cave entrance. It seemed to have been dug out recently.

And in the cave entrance, he sensed the signal; the voice. It was getting stronger.


	4. To Unchain the Beast

The young Saraslha had won. Dominance over the planet was well in hand. Broodmother Rindell had been won over to her side, and the renegade Brood had no chance against their combined forces. They spread over the planet, occupying a considerable number of resource nodes for themselves, and destroying Renegade Hive Clusters wherever they could be found. The Renegades were disorganized, unambitious, and predictable. They only followed patterns prescribed by their instincts, and this made them a flimsy, negligible opponent.

Saraslha stood on a cliff edge, overlooking a large area of low ground between two rises. It was a ravine. In this low ground, a massive chunk of biomass was formed. It was connected to the artery network without any subtlety, with channels coming out of the sides of the cliffs. They cycled decomposed Mineral mass and condensed Vespene Gas through its living, growing form. Its white mass which lacked any pigment slowly, gradually came to take shape. There was no covering; what was seen on the outside would become the exterior of the final product.

" _Little Princess."_ The psionic voice was Rindell's. She'd taken to addressing Saraslha by this term. She'd come up behind her, stopping a respectful distance. _"All renegade Hive Clusters in the Epsilon region have been dealt with. My Brood is numerous, and it is efficient."_

"Well done, Rindell." She said, not taking her eyes off the massive, slowly developing project below."The hard part is over, and now it's only a matter of process."

" _I have also located, and identified the Terran presence noticed by your watchposts. It turns out they are all infested; subordinate to the Swarm."_

She lifted her eyebrows in genuine surprise at this detail. " _Tell me Rindell: What did they have to say?"_

" _Their commander, a Lieutenant Benjamin, said he wishes to speak to you personally. I brought him along, and with your permission, he will enter your presence."_

"Yes, he may have an audience." Saraslha said.

Infested Benjamin approached, and saluted. "Highness." He said, with exceptionally developed speech by Infested Terran Standards. "Our presence here is unprecedented-"

"Ya think?" Saraslha had turned around to face her guest. "All Infested Terrans were moved to Stukov's swarm. Are you going to tell me he's on this planet as well?"

"...Yes. Yes he is, Princess."

This news only surprised her more. Now she wanted to hear whatever story this one had to tell. "Okay, start from the beginning."

He nodded, taking only the most cursory glance at Rindell next to him before beginning. "We were sent here as a redundancy for your own mission. If you failed, we were to complete the job. Stukov was also to ensure that your death would not happen under any circumstance."

The first part made sense, but the second part felt like news. "If I fail, I fail. Why would mother want to dilute her experiment with intervention?"

He just shrugged. "This is what Vice Admiral Stukov told me. You will need to talk to him for more on that."

She was about to ask where he was, or why he didn't show up personally, but then a minor peeve hit her conscious. "Why do you call him 'Vice Admiral'? That's not a Zerg rank. He's really more of a Broodmother."

"Vice admiral was his rank in the United Earth Directorate. The people in his swarm prefer it over Broodmother. Much the same way they prefer to call you the little Princess."

Saraslha's look shot over to Rindell. _"You can feel free to laugh, now. This is objectively funny."_

Broodmother Rindell went ahead and laughed. _"I seem to have something in common with these infested Terrans."_

"I hate both of you right now." Saraslha said to both of them.

"Our Vice Admiral has gone missing." Infested Benjamin continued with a sober tone. "I have no doubt he's perfectly fine; he eats danger and shits bullets. But it remains a curiosity. Whatever is keeping him from reporting back must certainly be significant."

"How long ago..?"

"Ten hours, Highness." He pulled out a smartphone. "I can show you his text right here-"

"No. It's fine, I believe you." Saraslha said. "I'm trying to evaluate how urgent this is. If I can wait for my Leviathan to mature before going to look for him, then I'm going to do that."

"Leviathan…" he blinked, causing a film to go over his eyes. "Is that the titanic life signature I'm sensing just past the cliff you're standing on?"

" _Indeed it is, Benjamin."_ Rindell said. _"The Little Princess began incubation as soon as our resource budget became realistic."_

Saraslha crossed her arms, looking off to the side. "I want a safe, comfy Flagship to direct my people from. Besides," she looked ahead at them again. "Leviathans are really cool."

"Whatever is your prerogative, Highness."

" _As the Little Princess desires."_ Rindell made a satirical curtsey gesture.

Saraslha sighed. There was no way to get an 'it's all good' from these two. She was their superior, and they were treating her as such, with all of the fun there was in playfully subverting that order. "Right then," she said to both of them, adopting her sober demeanor again. "I want emphasis put on expanding our web of watchposts. If we detect Stukov's essence, then I want an expeditionary force deployed to his location."

Both officers took this order seriously. Rindell put a hand on her head, undoubtedly broadcasting a psionic order. Infested Benjamin looked up at her. "My people's air division can patrol the outer border of your sentry network. Our Wraiths are faster than flying Zerg, and capable of cloaking. They are ideal scouts."

Rindell looked his way, _"I don't think that is necessary-"_

"Good call, Benjamin." Saraslha interrupted. "You've a green light to patrol our outskirts with your air force."

"Thank you for making use of us, Highness." he nodded.

She continued, "If they, or our Zerg sentries come across a significant concentration of Renegades, your orders are to avoid engagement and leave it to our main forces." She was looking at both of them. "I want no heroics from either of you."

" _Got it,"_ Rindell said, clearly in a mission-oriented mindset.

Benjamin saluted. "For the Swarm."

Saraslha returned the gesture with one of her human-like arms. "For the Swarm. Dismissed."

Benjamin turned, and left. Rindell watched him go, and turned back to Saraslha. _"There is also the matter of our hastily made lesser Swarm Queens. We will need more to cover the entire planet, but they are…"_

"It's fine, you can say it."

" _Idiots."_

"Just bear with it, Rindell. They'll learn. Slowly, but it'll happen."

" _The reason I bring it up is not to complain. I am simply curious whether you had an upgrade, or replacement for them in the works."_

"My Pyrolisks and Fire Fountains really left an impression on you, did they?"

" _If you were able to invent those, you might find a way to make officers who don't require a learning curve."_

"It's not top on my list of priorities right now. By the way, how _are_ my new underlings performing?"

There was a pause before Rindell answered, _"…The ecosystem of this planet may become permanently altered before we're finished."_

"Heheh…" Saraslha had a devious smile. "That's my babies."

" _Collateral damage aside, what are you planning to do with this planet?"_

It occurred to her that Rindell had not come to this planet with permission. She didn't know the big picture mission. When Saraslha thought of this, she was reminded of that mission herself, and her gut sank. "Oh… Might not want to expand the Brood too big, ol' Rindell…"

" _Your mind has suddenly withdrawn, my Princess. What is the problem?"_

Her hand was on her gut, and she was leaning forward. "Mothe—the Overqueen, says we can't keep the planet. Once all the Renegades are dead, we're taking off in the new Leviathan, and not leaving anything behind."

" _This makes no sense. Why would we not leave an occupational force?"_

"The Terran Dominion wants it…" She was suddenly depressed and low energy in her demeanor. "We're just the cleanup crew."

" _The humans? They should deal with the renegades themselves, then!"_ Rindell was suddenly angry; outraged.

She chuckled and smiled half-heartedly. "I said the exact same thing…" She looked upward, rationalizing, "It's a diplomatic move. Mom wants to show the humans she's serious about a long-term peace. To them, she looks like the good Zerg fighting off the bad Zerg."

" _It's a plant the seeds of war move. You will no doubt still feel raw about it when you become Overqueen."_

Saraslha was surprised by Rindell's explicit assumption. "You really think that?"

" _Indeed."_ Rindell said, making her posture a bit more formal. _"You have more than won this planet through blood and effort. It would be quite surprising if you were not still angry about it in the future."_

"I see." She turned around, looking back down at the Leviathan Pupa. It had grown considerably in size during the few minutes she had her back to it. "There yet remains a job to finish. Wipe out the remaining Renegades, and find Stukov. Then we can-" She smacked a bug that landed next to her ear. "Get off this planet. Don't let me keep you, Rindell."

" _As you wish, little Princess."_ Her tone went back to being filled with purpose and energy. _"It will not take long."_

* * *

" _Environmental impact?"_ Zagara had been in front of a small Khaydarin Crystal for several hours. It powered a long-range psionic link to another crystal a great distance away. She flavored these words. _"Is that a Terran synonym, meaning the same thing as planetary bombardment?"_

" _It does not appear so, Broodmother Zagara."_ Said the other voice on the other end of the crystal link. The voice was high-pitched and feminine. It was like a beautiful singing voice that lacked any emotional charge; pleasant notes with an efficient and dispassionate tone and pace. _"Korhal is an unfamiliar place, Broodmother. There are many minds here, and they are all so loud, unaware that someone might be listening to their thoughts."_

" _Stay focused, Izsha."_ Zagara said. _"Wrap up your report, and you will be able to sleep."_ Izsha used to be the personal Adjutant for the Queen of Blades. After Zagara took over the Swarm, she appointed the efficient, clear-thinking being as the Swarm's Ambassador to the Terran Dominion.

" _Yes, of course. A part of the planet Sephulli's appeal to the Terrans is the wide variety of life forms indigenous to it."_

" _Is it to collect the essence of these life forms?"_ Zagara asked.

" _Their explanations are vague. The phrase: 'Scientific Value' was used often in our dialogue."_

" _It could be their science collects essence in its own way…"_ Zagara mused. She remembered years ago, it would have been unthinkable for her to have curiosities of this nature. But during those times, the Queen of Blades had Zagara's brain mass expanded in numerous upgrades.

After the End War concluded, and things became calmer; the needs of the Swarm less pressing due to no longer being at war, this expanded brain mass created an inevitable thirst for knowledge in Zagara. An openness toward new ideas and a natural introspective curiosity about her own existence. This led to a fascination with Terran and Protoss minds; thinking people who were curious like her, and self-aware like her, but so very different.

This fascination had a significant influence on Zagara's design of her child. Protoss essence was unusable to Zerg, and so she settled on Terran.

Izsha continued: _"Furthermore, they wished to know of what means you had prescribed to deal with the renegade Brood. I was truthful, and informed them that you had sent your daughter."_

" _I told Saraslha nothing of sparing the planet's nature. They should have made this preference apparent sooner. Next item."_

" _They next expressed curiosity over your having a daughter."_

" _They express a lot of curiosities toward you, do they?"_

" _It is my function to interpret, compile, and relay information."_

And they apparently caught on to that. _"What did you tell them?"_

" _I was purposefully vague, and informed them that she was an experiment."_

Zagara burst into laughter. _"You certainly know how to be diplomatic, Izsha."_ The idea of someone being one's child, and yet also an experiment would come off as bewildering to humans. Zagara was aware of this.

" _I did not think they would be receptive to the fact that Saraslha looked like them, and behaved similarly to them, but was Zerg. The information I have on the psychological concept called the 'Uncanny Valley' would suggest they would find it appalling."_

" _Your mind performs with precision as always, Izsha."_

" _That is all I have to report, Broodmother. I wish to sleep now, and quiet the voices around me."_ Izsha's own crystal was located in the Zerg Embassy in Augustgrad. The building had been emptied and given to them to use. Izsha and her small guard of elite strains had made it their own.

" _That is all I need from you, Izsha."_ With this, Izsha closed the connection, and Zagara was left alone in her private communication chamber. To Izsha, the Queen of Blades was still Leader of the Swarm, and what's why she addressed Zagara as 'Broodmother.' However, Zagara was still the previous ruler's number two, and this made Izsha fully compliant to her wishes.

Zagara's mind rapidly shifted away from Izsha, and to Saraslha. This had been the first time in her young daughter's life that she was out of reach of a psionic connection. The first time Zagara could not sense where she was and what she was doing. At first it was a negligible concern. But once it actually happened, Zagara checked the connection with Saraslha out of habit, finding and being reminded that she was out of reach. This slowly began to get to her.

" _I look forward seeing… to how different you'll be, when you return, Saraslha."_

* * *

"This… really calls for some explaining, Rindell. You're telling me your Brood lost a skirmish with the Renegades?" Saraslha was at her spot overlooking the developing Leviathan Pupa.

" _The far eastern section of the Sierra Region. I underestimated the number of defenders for the Hive Clusters in that area. There were more than I expected."_

"In other words more than usual." Their communication as long range. Rindell was kilometers off at her Hive Cluster in the Sierra Region, campaigning there.

" _It is but a flop of circumstance, little Princess. I shall attack with a larger force than the previous, and crush them."_

"Don't do that." Saraslha said, looking off and frowning. She didn't know why, but this news spooked her. The Renegades; the dumb, aimless renegades had won a skirmish. And now they'd provoked a certain, predictable reaction from her general. "Rindell, this is going to seem odd, but I want you to treat the Renegades like a real enemy; a genuine threat. Over-estimate the hell out of them, and don't go in with everything as though they can't anticipate it. I don't care if it takes longer to secure the region."

" _This does not make sense to me, but consider it done."_

Saraslha could not contain her paranoia. "If you simply attack again with a larger force, they'll have secretly pulled reinforcements from another region to encircle your attack, and at the same time launch a surprise counterattack on your Hive Cluster." This would not happen without a directing intelligence, but her worries ran ahead of her reason.

" _Saraslha,"_ Rindell said firmly. _"I said I would do as you asked. Please, do not concern yourself."_

"Alright, then." Saraslha hung up mentally, trying to calm down. She was being irrational; there was nothing to suggest that the Renegades were being directed. Or that they even could be, with their original controller dead. She recalled a bit of history. The Zerg were once ruled by an entity called the Overmind, and its will was carried out by agents called Cerebrates. The permanent death of a Cerebrate named Zasz created the need for all of its renegade Brood to be killed.

"A deed carried out by…" Her mind went to the experience of reading about another Cerebrate, from Izsha's information archives, and from the databases of the older abandoned Command Centers on Char. She beamed at the thought. "Now that was a general. If I had that son of a gun, it'd be like having Rindell times ten." But it was not to be. The Queen of Blades had disposed of all remaining Cerebrates after the Brood War.

Saraslha had suddenly sensed something, near the space she physically occupied. "I can sense your presence, Human. You can't hide from Overlords, even with that kind of stealth." There was one passing overhead, she ordered it to stop and remain put.

The Human revealed herself, coming out of a collection of vegetation a distance away from the Cliffside and Saraslha. She was a Ghost, and turning off her cloaking revealed an attractive appearance with ponytailed blonde hair, as well as a two-handed canister rifle which she held idle in one. "What the hell are you?" She asked, staring at Saraslha's humanoid appearance.

She smiled politely at her guest, clasping her hands behind her back. "I'm a Saraslha. What are you?"

She laughed a bit at this, only a bit. "I'm a Nova."

"You must have a lot of energy to be a nova."

She examined Saraslha from head to foot. "I expected Zagara's daughter to be something scary and mean. You're a pipsqueak."

"Oh, I may be fulla pip, and I may squeak, but I gotta wicked bite!" She made an exaggerated clomp with her teeth. "Give ya rabies."

This got her to laugh a bit more, but only a bit.

"So what's the Dominion doing here so soon? Cleanup isn't done yet. You're kinda making me feel unprofessional."

Suddenly Nova's face became serious; intent. "How did you know I'm with the Terran Dominion?" Her rifle was cradled in both hands now. "I never told you that."

Saraslha sobered as well, but was relaxed. She tapped her own forehead with her clawed fingertips. "A Terran shows up, undoubtedly with friends, and nowhere is my Brood under attack. You single me out and know I'm the leader of this bunch, in spite of my being, in your own words, a pipsqueak. That, and you haven't shot me, non-aggression agreement and all. I stay on top of this stuff, Ghost lady."

Nova thought about it, and then her brow relaxed.

"So back to my question. What do you guys need?" Saraslha's tone remained polite and accommodating.

"You've been here awhile. I need to know if you or your people have come across anything strange."

"Strange as in mysterious? Or strange like 'I saw a fish that looked like a cat?'"

Nova's face became the slightest bit quizzical. "Psionic presence strange. Why? Did you see a fish that looked like a cat?"

"Well, not here. But on this other planet where back in the War you guys nuked the hell out a certain area—"

"How old are you?" She was frowning now, her question somewhat rhetorical.

"In Human years? I'd say about…" She looked off, slowly counting with her fingers without looking at them. "Four…"

"..Teen?"

"Four… years. Yeah, I'd say about four years."

She was looking off now, rubbing her face. "I can't believe it…"

"I know, I really am a pipsqueak. Four entire years, and not fully grown. Clearly it's time for a spurt."

"I'm talking to a child…"

"You've got to be three, at most, right?"

"No."

"You're in great shape." Saraslha suddenly remarked, changing the subject.

"Excuse me?" Nova looked at her directly again.

She raised her hands. "What I mean is, I sense your cardiovascular functions are top notch, and your body shape well-proportioned. You must get a lot of attention from male Terrans-"

Now her face became repulsed, "What the hell, little girl? Where is this coming from?"

"Oh! I'm sorry," Saraslha quickly stopped herself. "I was told female Terrans enjoyed being complimented on their appearance."

"Yeah? Well you're doing it wrong."

There was a minute of silence as Saraslha thought of what to say next. "...Can I try again?"

"No."

Saraslha nodded at this, then placed her index and middle fingers on her forehead. _"Can you hear this, Ghost lady?"_ She spoke telepathically.

Nova shut her eyes, locking onto the signal. _"Yes, your voice feels different from human psychics. But I can sense it now."_

" _If I come across anything out of the ordinary on this planet, I'll let you know over this link."_

" _That'll work. Thank you for your cooperation."_ She turned to leave.

" _Just out of curiosity, what is it you're looking for?"_

She stopped, not turning around. _"Three standard hours ago, I led a raid on a facility of Moebius remnants, and extracted a lead from their data banks. The lead pointed to this planet."_

" _You're just up and telling me all this?"_ Saraslha said.

" _We're sharing intel now, right?"_

" _And what was the lead to? What are you looking for?"_

There was a pause, her back still to her. _"A… Sleeping Giant. That's what they referred to it as. It's a metaphor, for something very dangerous, best left alone."_

* * *

Alexei Stukov had entered the cavern, from which emanated the psionic presence; the faint signal which piqued his curiosity, and was likely the source of the organized Renegades. Veins of a green, crystalline sediment were in the rock walls and ceiling of the darkening cavern, growing thicker and more prevalent as he got further away from the sunlight of the cavern entrance.

He recognized the substance; the Protoss would use it as a component to create Ihan Crystals; devices which could store an individual's memories, and transmit them directly into the mind of another. If architecture were constructed around this green substance to charge it with energy, as well as organize its contents in a comprehensive way, it could store someone's memories and play them back.

As he moved deeper into the cavern, an energy pulse went through the green material. A voice; the memory of a voice was communed into his mind:

 _Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal Will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me._

This was the memory of someone who had talked directly to the Overmind. Stukov's curiosity only intensified as he walked more briskly through the cavern. It took him downhill; deeper underground. Another pulse of energy through the green crystal in the veins of the cavern walls.

 _Greetings, Cerebrate. By now you've realized that I've severed your connection with the Overmind and your renegade brethren. Understand it's nothing personal. I just can't risk you falling under their influence. You're mine now. Serve me unquestioningly, and I'll let you live._

Yet another memory. This voice sounded like the Queen of Blades, and the words gave away that the memory of the one hearing it belonged to a Cerebrate. It was natural crystal with no sorting element, so it was difficult to judge the order in which these memories occurred.

He detected another source of light, veering off in a fork in the cavern path. He headed toward it. Another pulse in the crystal veins:

 _Yet your purpose is unique. While they carry forth my will to the innumerable broods, you have but one charge entrusted to your care. … you must watch over the Chrysalis, and ensure that no harm comes to the creature within it. Go now, and keep safe my prize._

A memory of the Overmind's voice again. Stukov reached the source of light having walked a bit uphill. It came out of an opening in the cavern floor. Once he got close enough to look directly through, he saw another tunnel, this one with a metal catwalk running through the bottom, and electric lights on an overhead rail. He heard two sets of footsteps approaching from one end of the tunnel below. With this, he backed off, remaining out of sight.

The footsteps in the tunnel below the opening grew louder, as did a pair of voices: "..The Subject has begun getting psionic communications through to the outside. Our mind-dampening drugs are becoming less effective by the day."

"I know," said the other voice. "We modify the stims, and it just starts developing a resistance to them all over again. We're running out of time." The two passed by the opening in the rock above. Alexei Stukov dropped silently in behind them, and followed them.

"I can't believe the thing has survived all these years underground. And why does it look like an Ultralisk?"

"Its broken body merged with the broken body of a similarly crushed Torrasque. Their powers of reincarnation complemented one another. The merged creature was able to slowly rebuild itself over time."

Torrasque was an old, powerful Ultralisk capable of reincarnation after death. Recreating the trait for all Ultralisks was a failed project, until during the Queen of Blades' invasion of Korhal, an experimental weapon used by the Terran Dominion accidentally reawakened the atrophied sequence. A Torrasque merging with a Cerebrate while they were both regenerating their biomass had never happened before, and the result would be unpredictable. Stukov continued following the two men around a corner of the catwalk built in the underground tunnel network. They did not notice him.

"Just imagine the power, if we were able to control the creature, or replicate its Zerg-controlling capacity. The Dominion and Daelaam wouldn't know what hit them."

"You're forgetting the Zerg Overqueen. She might be able to take control of the Subject, or the replicas we might make out of it."

"I've been monitoring its psionic voice. The damn thing won't shut up about the Queen of Blades, wanting to know where she is, what she's doing."

The other man snickered at this. "Did you tell it she's gone?"

"Yeah, sure, in a better place." A noise emitted behind them. They turned, and noticed Stukov.

He shot his infested arm through the body of one of the men, and then, with the impaled person in the air, he stepped forward and shot the same arm through the second man's center of mass. This strike caused his hand to go into the rock wall behind the second man by accident, making a pit into it.

He withdrew his left hand, and then flung the human shish-kebab off his arm. With this, he advanced through the corridors. It was obvious this place was a secret testing facility, centered on a single specimen. He also deduced that this specimen was directing the Renegade Zerg, which used to be its Brood.

A psionic voice made its way into his mind. _"I… sense your presence. You are… Alexei Stukov. But changed, stronger, more Zerg."_

Stukov replied as he walked briskly through the corridors, shooting his eyes left and right to check each intersection he passed. _"And I'm beginning to put the pieces together, as to what's going on down here."_

" _You know… what I am?"_

" _I know who you are."_

" _I need to break free of this prison. I must find the Queen."_

Stukov came upon a pair of Marines, men in powered armor with heavy-caliber rifles, whose patrol rounded a corner right in front of him. He unleashed a blast of green energy through his more infested left arm.

Before they even lifted their weapons, they were killed, giant chunks of them corroded into goo by his energy blast. _"Why did you attack my base camp?"_

" _I must kill the Terrans on this world. Then my Brood can find me, and free me, and then I can find the Queen."_

" _Which one?"_ Stukov asked, peeking around the next corner, then proceeding when he saw the path was clear. He was getting closer to the source of the voice, he knew it. He also realized that it must have attacked his base thinking it guarded the facility in which it was held.

" _There is only one queen of the Zerg."_ The voice said.

" _I am afraid not any longer, there are queens all over the Zerg now; replacements, for your kind."_

The source of the voice was silent for a moment.

" _And that's the buildup for my question to you, Cerebrate. Are you out for the Queen of Blades because she wanted to kill you? Over the fact that she wrapped you up in plastic and threw you away like trash?"_

" _You do not understand, Stukov."_

" _Enlighten me. If I like your answer, I may just turn you loose."_

" _My only purpose is to protect the Queen. I was given that purpose from my moment of conception, when she was developing inside a Chrysalis. It was my purpose when she reclaimed me from the second Overmind. It was my purpose when I destroyed your Directorate's fleet, and crushed her enemies to nothing on Char Aleph."_

Stukov came upon a catwalk overlooking a sizable chamber with gleaming metal floor, walls and ceiling. Inside a giant containment field down on the main floor, and shackled into the wall behind it by metal braces and tightly wound steel cable, was what looked like an abnormally large Ultralisk.

But its front half rose higher, in a centaur-esque body shape with extended limbs grown outside beside its giant bladed tusks. And its Ultralisk-like head had a swelling under its carapace. Rounding off in a dual-oval shape rather than a wide shield. It was an indicator of a giant piece of brain mass having integrated itself inside. To compensate for this weight imbalance, its legs were larger, thicker, and more prominent.

It was shackled down at every conceivable point of motion, and the containment field maintained itself over it. Stukov saw people down on the floor with equipment. Computer screens, glass tanks containing chemicals and biological samples. A wide set of tubes were punctured into the creature's carapace, cycling drugs into its system. _"I believe you,"_ Stukov said to it. The people below could not hear their conversation. _"You're the reason Gerard's mission failed, and he died in disgrace."_

" _When my Swarm caught up to what remained of Admiral DuGalle's fleet, he had already taken his own life. He would have died with his fleet either way, but he chose to shoot himself."_

" _I did not know that…"_ Stukov said. _"You… are actually the only being alive who could have told me that."_

" _It changes nothing of my killing him."_ The psionic voice was deep-throated and clearly pronounced. Its tone suggested experience, but also a carefree ease. This being lived in a complex world, but one which it waded through in powerful strides.

" _Yes, but it's still good to know… My old friend, he chose to die on his own terms."_

" _If you shut down the containment field over me, I will be able to escape. The choice is yours, Stukov. I do not know your motivations now; your leanings. But you have the power to grant my freedom."_

Stukov's first idea was to kill the creature, denying it from these people and ending the potential threat it posed. What would be the point of letting it go, only for it to learn that its Queen no longer existed as a mortal, and its purpose was no longer relevant?

If he set it free, it would undoubtedly kill everyone in this secret facility, and retake control of its Brood on the planet. What would Zagara think of this? He asked himself. What would the Little One…

The idea of Saraslha occurred to him. Right before he entered the cavern, his people reported to him that she had triumphed over Broodmother Rindell. This surprised him; the little one had defied all expectations, and defeated a stronger opponent in a no holds barred war. _"I think… I have thought of a purpose for you."_ The Little One was on easy street with Rindell conquered. It was time to up the ante for her. _"What is your name?"_

" _I did not have a name, until one was formed during my long dormancy. I am Vaus."_

" _If I let you go, what do you plan to do?"_

" _I will kill these beings who have held me and tortured me, and then return myself to the Queen. If she deems that I must be destroyed again, then so be it."_

"You're one crazy son of a bitch." He spoke aloud now, not caring if the people below heard. He charged a Corrosive Blast in his infested arm, and then fired it into the containment field projector on the ceiling. It melted through the shell and innards of the piece of equipment, causing the field to fail.

The lights in the room reddened, and alarm horns began their loud announcement of emergency.

"Quickly, purge the Specimen!" Someone on the floor yelled. A large powered door opened on the other side of the room, revealing the business end of a Yamato Cannon, a powerful gun normally seen serving as the main weapon of Terran capital ships. It was already charging its blast as the door opened.

"They're not screwing around, Vaus!" Alexei was grinning in excitement at this development as he watched from the catwalk above.

Vaus broke out of its restraints on one side of his body, and then began working the other side. He saw the charging cannon.

It fired. Any personnel on the floor who did not make it out in time were killed by simply being near the blast. Alexei was not effected.

Vaus was hit directly by the Yamato Cannon's super heated particle blast. At first he, and the entire area around him appeared like a glowing blob of melted metal and smoke.

A Psionic Lash shot out of this smoky cloud, and it struck the Yamato cannon, slicing it clean in two and causing its remaining energy reserve to release in an explosion.

Now free of his melted away shackles, Vaus walked out onto the main floor of the chamber. His carapace was cooked, burned completely through at some spots. But these wounds were rapidly regenerating. He looked up at Alexei Stukov.

Stukov jumped over the railing, and landed on the floor next to the giant Ultralisk-Cerebrate. The fall would break the legs of an ordinary human; he was fine. "I'll back you up. Let's go."

In silent agreement, Vaus headed toward another large blast door; one which led to a freight tunnel used to bring him in. He did not muscle it open. All it required was gripping the object telekinetically. It was torn completely out of its housing.

Stukov managed to contain his excitement. "The Little One is going to have some fun with this thing." He genuinely wondered, what she was going to do to deal with this particular opponent. He had no doubt they would end up fighting.

* * *

Saraslha sensed it. Like a thunderbolt, she sensed the sudden appearance of the being's psionic presence. Until a few moments ago it had been hidden. Now it was clear as the planet's sun in the sky. Feeling slightly overwhelmed and paralyzed, she touched her forehead. _"Nova…"_

" _I sense it."_

"'k _ay…"_ She took her hand off. Then she put it back on. _"Rindell…"_

" _The renegade Brood has changed its behavior. They have all moved at once, something is surely directing them."_

" _Something is,"_ Saraslha said. _"Wrap things up in the Sierra region, and get yourself back to me."_ She again took her hand off, then pulled out a communicator. "Lieutenant Benjamin, pull your scouting parties back."

"Aye sir."

Saraslha turned around to overlook the cliff edge again. The Leviathan was nearing maturity. Its shape was almost completely defined, and its color saturated. She could sense its mind, now awake and conscious. "You're gonna have your work cut out for you, my giant friend."


	5. Saraslha's Way

A new Leviathan had entered orbit over Char, having just come out of Warp Space. Zagara sensed it, and sensed her daughter's unique mental format on the control receptacle of its mind. It was Saraslha's.

There was an enormous clearing of open space in front of the main entrance of the Primary Hive Cluster. Zagara waited here outside the massive hall-like front door, watching as the titanic Zerg creature entered the atmosphere, growing larger in view as it flew toward her.

The Leviathan stopped and then idled in midair a fair distance above the open space constituting the giant Hive's Creep lawn. A Nydus Worm came down from the Leviathan, and hovered its head above a spot just ten meters from Zagara. Out of its regurgitation came Saraslha. She looked exactly the same as when she left. And there was no doubt it was her. Zagara felt her unique mind.

There were no words exchanged as Saraslha walked tentatively toward Zagara, and Zagara came away from the door entrance, coming closer to her.

They stopped right up to each other. Saraslha looked off, frowning. "Mother, I…"

Zagara embraced her, holding her tightly, with as close to a hug as was possible for a Broodmother's physiology. _"Saraslha, my beautiful child... Welcome home."_

Saraslha's cheek was pressed against her carapace. She returned the embrace. And her face, out of view of Zagara's eyes, had tears in them. Never in her life had her mother shown this level of affection. "There's… there's a lot—"

" _It can wait."_ Zagara said. _"First come inside, and you can tell me your story. I want to hear everything you've been up to while away."_

* * *

 **Earlier that Day**

The young Saraslha had been hit with a new wave of resistance to completing her mission. The Renegade Zerg still occupied a significant area, and now they were moving; gathering resources and building up their forces.

" _Princess, the Sierra region is ours."_ Rindell reported. _"However, my momentum has been dampened."_

Saraslha took a breath. _"You took heavy losses, correct?"_

" _Indeed. Their intelligence has jumped considerably; Lurker ambushes, and a roaming force which picked off my weaker task forces. I was foolish to have divided my army."_

" _Get back to me, Rindell. Your Brood is spread too thin over too many areas around our territory. The situation has changed, and we need to change our strategy."_

" _Understood."_

Saraslha was standing next to a flat limestone sticking out of the ground and covered in creep. It was next to her main Hive Cluster. Having Broodmother Rindell as a subordinate, but otherwise independent agent increased the size of Saraslha's force to both their control capacities put together.

A Broodmother was one out of every thousand or so Swarm Queens who grew strong and intelligent enough to break off from their original Brood and start their own. The young Swarm Queens which Saraslha and Rindell had made recently were nowhere near to reaching this level.

"Saraslha, we need to talk." The source of the voice was approaching Saraslha's rock-table from the side.

She looked that direction, and saw Nova approaching, this time making no attempt at stealth. Saraslha's Brood, stationed all over the place, did not attack. "Nova, things are about to get really hardcore really fast."

She stopped next to the creep-covered rock, looking over it toward her. "I'll agree that we have a situation."

Saraslha continued: "Your army had better be worth its salt. I'll need some solid backup if the Renegades push me into a stalemate."

"I don't have an army, Saraslha." Nova was shaking her head. "All I brought was a team of Ghosts."

"What! Come on…" She was gesturing, lifting her eyebrows. "We're not under any surveillance here. You can talk freely."

"I located the controller of the Renegades, and was about to infiltrate the facility and kill it. But someone beat me to it, and set the damn thing loose."

"Slow down, Ghost lady. What facility?"

She slowed down, setting her rifle on the table and propping her arms, looking downward. "Another laboratory of Moebius remnants was on this planet. They hid it well, but it's impossible to perfectly hide something that requires occasional shipments of supplies and equipment. Myself and a team of Ghosts came here incognito."

"..Just ahead of a Dominion assault force, am I right?"

"No. The lead was tenuous; all I had was a hunch the lab was here. I can't call in the cavalry without cause."

"But once you learned there was a Moebius base, I'm hoping you did call for this cavalry."

"Of course." Her facing leveled off, staring ahead. "But it'll be one standard day before they arrive."

"Just perfect." Saraslha had a dour look, and her tone was sarcastic. "I came here from Char, and that took… like an hour."

"It's not so simple with a large military force, Saraslha. There are logistical and organizational needs that have to be seen to."

"And bureaucratic, right? All that lovely red tape and documentation; clearance from the boys upstairs." Saraslha had a flat stare.

"It could definitely be more efficient, I'll give you that." Nova conceded.

"So then why have you never tried to do anything about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you have a better idea of how things in your military should be run, why don't you give it a shot? If you know better, then why not see if you really know better?"

She shook her head. "I'm not political. I do my thing in the field, I get the job done. That's my role."

Saraslha looked at Nova intently. "I've heard the stories about you, Nova. If I could turn you into something like a Broodmother, and have you in my Swarm, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Do you have any idea how much I'd kill for experienced and able-minded people to help me run things? I have Rindell, but she's only one."

Nova shook her head again. "Ambitions like that will ruin your health. It's not as simple as you make it out to be."

Saraslha had a big smile. "That, Ghost lady, is a wonderful worldview. Complex issues, moral greyness. You can be a Zerg Broodmother if you'd like. I'll vouch for you with Zagara."

"No."

"Well, the offer is on the table."

Nova made an exasperated exhale, pinching her forehead. "Look, there's…

"We can…" Saraslha slowed down. "Move on to—"

"I'd like to explain something. Just… hear me out."

"Yeah, of course, say your piece."

"Every Terran has an independent mind. Like you, like your Broodmothers, like your old Cerebrates. And every one of these Terran minds has its own ideas, and believes its own ideas are the best and better than anyone else's."

"But that's a falsehood," Saraslha said. "Ideas have varying levels of merit."

"Tell any Terran that and they'll agree with you, and then tell you that their own ideas are at the top of that merit ladder."

"And do they… test these ideas? In real life?

"Almost never."

"Well that's dumb." Saraslha's arms crossed. "If they think their ideas are the best, why would they only talk about them and never apply them?"

"That's easy for a Zerg to say. The only ones of your kind with ideas are your leaders."

Saraslha shook her head. "Your people have an entire marketplace of ideas. That's way better than what we have."

"The point I'm getting to," Nova said, "is the only way Terrans can be organized, and unified, is if the vast majority of us shut our traps, suck it up and do as we're told. And most of us are content with doing this. Even if it means red tape and bureaucracy."

"Are you content with it?"

"Yes."

"What if you were told to do something ridiculous, like drown a puppy?"

"I would drown the puppy."

Saraslha smiled again. "See? You'd be a great Zerg. Your superior orders you to do nutty things and…" She snapped her fingers. "No questions asked."

Broodmother Rindell had come out of the Nydus Network in the Main Hive Cluster, and was walking up the hill to Saraslha's outdoor war room table. "Rindell, glad you could make it." Saraslha greeted as she took a spot around the rock.

" _Lieutenant Benjamin will be here shortly."_ Rindell said. _"I am regrouping my Brood to three concentrated staging areas, and a reserve force at my main Cluster."_ She looked toward Nova. _"How many soldiers can be counted among your party, Ghost lady?"_

Saraslha interjected, "Rindell, no. That's not actually her name."

Rindell looked at her. _"You referred to her as the Ghost lady, my Princess."_

"I know, bad habit. Her name is Nova."

"And all I've got is a team of Ghosts and myself." Nova said to Rindell.

" _Are your Ghosts strong?"_ Rindell asked.

"The best of the best. But we're not a frontline army."

"Their real army's a comin'." Saraslha explained. "In the short, short time frame of one day."

Rindell looked back at Nova. _"That is inconceivable. Why would it take so long to send forces?"_

"Said the same thing…" Saraslha was looking off. Nova was rolling her eyes.

" _I came here from Gystt, and it took an hour, at most."_

"Yeeeep" Saraslha slapped the table. "Let's talk business now."

Nova leaned in, propping her arms again. "The controller of these broods is a Cerebrate. It survived the Queen of Blades' purging of them after the Brood War, and the Moebius remnants were analyzing the creature in captivity, looking for a way to control or clone it."

"Which Cerebrate?"

Nova frowned with thought. "How would I know which? Does it make a difference?"

"In reverse order: absolutely, and did it have a color?"

She nodded. "Yeah, violet."

Saraslha's eyes became a pair of round blue beads at this. "That's… just our flipping luck." She was letting non-humorous laughter escape her nose. "Of all the Cerebrates that might survive the purge, it had to be that son of a bitch."

" _I am not as literate in history."_ Rindell said. _"Which Cerebrate was this?"_

"The one who successfully penetrated the defenses of the Protoss home world of Aiur. The one who fought on Char Aleph." Saraslha looked at both of them. She pointed an index finger on top of the rock. "In the Brood War, the Queen of Blades' swarm was spread thin and all over the place. They'd just killed the second Overmind, got into scuffles on distant worlds, and her right hand guy Duran was nowhere to be found.

They both remained quiet, letting her tell the story. The infested Lieutenant Benjamin came up to the table, noticed she was telling a story, and was quiet as well.

"Three giant fleets came to Char. All unified by their mutual enemy: the Queen of Blades." Saraslha looked at Nova. "One fleet was the Dominion." She looked at Rindell, "one was the Protoss." She then looked at Benjamin. "And another from the United Earth Directorate. They all converged on the platform over Char: Char Aleph. And the Queen of Blades' only line of defense was a relatively small force under this… son of a bitch, this Cerebrate we're up against now." She opened her hands outward. "Do any of you know the outcome?"

Rindell spoke: _"I would imagine an alliance such as that would be tenuous. After wiping off the small Zerg force, the three separate forces would begin fighting one another-"_

"The Zerg won." Saraslha cut her off as she poked three spots around the first spot she poked on the table. "The Dominion fleet: crushed. The Protoss armada: crippled. The UED fleet: driven to rout. A crushing defeat for all of the Queen of Blades' remaining enemies which closed the Brood War for good. Ladies and gentleman." She surveyed the three people at her table. "Our situation has now become very hardcore."

The table was approached by the sound of a Vulture bike. They all looked in that direction, and saw Alexei Stukov parking it and lowering the kickstand. He then approached, and then took a spot at the rock.

"Alexei!" Saraslha greeted him with an exaggeratedly friendly tone. "Glad you could make it. Have you got a heck of a report to make, am I right?"

Stukov patted Lieutenant Benjamin on the shoulder, who in turn nodded and took a background spot behind him. "To start," Stukov said. "First there was this cavern full of green Ihan ore—"

"Let's start with why you're here, on this planet."

He looked off, and then looked toward Saraslha again. "Your mother."

Saraslha calmed, looked off, then looked toward Stukov again. "I see."

He raised an open hand, lifting his eyebrows.

"Yeah, alright. Continue your report."

* * *

 **Some time before**

Alexei Stukov stood on Vaus' left shoulder, holding onto a spike coming out of the armored head shell containing his large neural cortex. They advanced up a winding freight tunnel, Vaus making long, powerful strides.

They were met with resistance. Moebius Marines, Marauders and Goliaths came out of the side passages in large teams, opening fire on the giant Zerg. Stukov charged his Corrosive Blast in his free infested arm, targeting the Goliath combat walkers and melting through their cockpit areas one by one, which crippled them and left them limp.

Vaus made broad slashes with his tusks one side at a time, throwing most of his immense body mass behind each sweep. The kinetic force of the dull, dense tusk blades caused them to bury inside the armored Marine and Marauder suits, killing the Terrans inside and throwing them into the opposite walls.

The tunnel echoed and rang with the sound of cumulative ballistic fire. Stukov and Vaus were showered with bullets from the Marines and Goliaths, and impact grenades from the Marauders. But Vaus' Ultralisk armor deflected the bullets and absorbed the explosions and shrapnel from the grenades. The Terrans could not do significant damage before he got close enough to sweep them aside by the bushel.

Stukov was a smaller target atop his shoulder, but took fire as well. His infestation was a powerful symbiont. The bullets that managed to puncture his skin were contained and ejected out the other side with minimal damage, and what damage did occur would heal quickly. He continued picking out large, distant targets for his Corrosive Blast.

At the end of the tunnel, the two emerged to an outdoor base. They were on the other side of the plateau from the cavern entrance Stukov had found. The base was surrounded and shadowed by a lush canopy of indigenous flora.

The place was in uproar. The sound of gunfire was everywhere. A group of siege tanks had been deployed in the center of the base, and they were firing their heavy guns outward at an unseen enemy.

Vaus spoke: _"My Brood has arrived. These Terrans will be slaughtered."_ Zerg had penetrated into the base. They rushed the defenders in the open, and surrounded its defensive bunkers to tear them apart.

Stukov wouldn't even try to talk the creature out of massacring the people who had held him captive and tortured him. Instead, he fired his next Corrosive Blast into the cluster of Siege Tanks. The projectile went through them in a straight line, taking several out of commission.

" _And now, Stukov…"_ Vaus walked calmly into the center of the base, not bothering to join the fight as his Brood rapidly annihilated the remaining Terrans. The cluster of Siege Tanks had been set upon, and were rapidly being cut to pieces and showered with acid. _"I must ask you a question, a question the answer to which I… am apprehensive."_

"Shoot," he said with his vocal voice.

He stopped walking. _"The Queen of Blades, where is she?"_

Stukov hopped off his shoulder, walked out in front of him, turned around and looked up into his eyes. "The answer to that question comes in the form of a story."

" _Tell me this story."_

Stukov beheld this creature. He sensed its intelligent brain; the brain of a Cerebrate. He sensed its psionic strength growing stronger as the drugs in its system thinned and dwindled. Saw its massive body, having merged with Torrasque. He thought of Saraslha; of giving her a worthy opponent. "It goes like this, Vaus: She's gone."

" _Gone…"_

"The Swarm is ruled by Zagara now. The Queen of Blades no longer exists."

There was a moment of idleness as Vaus processed this news. Loud, but natural breaths from his large lungs and breathing orifices were the only noise as the sound of what used to be a battle went silent. The Moebius remnants were eliminated, and his Brood flowed into the tunnel, to kill everyone remaining in the underground facility. _"The Terrans told me as much during my captivity. I did not believe them."_

"It's true," Stukov said. "Your energy is recovering. Do you sense her out there anywhere?"

" _Char is out of psionic range. I… cannot confirm your claim that way. But you would have no reason to lie."_

"What are you going to do?"

" _I sense the minds of pretenders; of independents controlling the Swarm on this planet. They think they are free of the Queen of Blades; I will show them they are not free of her protector."_

Stukov laughed a bit, amused at this. "You really are a crazy son of a bitch. Ever thought of changing your loyalties? Getting… I don't know, a different purpose?"

" _No."_ He answered firmly.

"She had you killed…" Stukov assumed this fact was enough. "…Why?"

Vaus turned his head, making physical eye contact with Stukov. _"You already know the answer to that question, Alexei Stukov. You knew it when your Admiral had you killed; did you resent him for this? Did it shake your loyalty to Earth?"_

Alexei Stukov's face relaxed, and he looked downward. "…No, to both of those."

" _Indeed,"_ Vaus was affirmed. _"The Queen made a mistake when she executed me. But that does not release me from my duty."_

"I believe… we may have a lot in common."

" _You are welcome to join me in this campaign, Stukov. You would be a great asset."_

What Vaus proposed was turning against Zagara, against the Swarm. He'd be joining the rebel side. As with all things most in his position would consider outrageous, Stukov found this idea amusing. He smiled, on one side of his mouth, looking down away from Vaus' eyes. "Sorry, I'll have to pass on that."

He walked past Stukov. _"The pretender, the one you call Zagara, must be destroyed. I will find her, and all those loyal to her, and there will be no mercy."_

"Alright then. You have fun with that." It was all set in place. Saraslha would fight this one next.

" _You released me from my captivity, and for that I am grateful."_

Stukov took out an old pocket watch, opening the cover to see its round clock. "Is that the time..? I've an appointment soon."

" _Farewell, Alexei. My Brood will let you be as you leave."_

* * *

"…then I went and got the Vulture I left in front of the cavern, and rode it back here."

"Let me get this straight." Saraslha was pinching the semi-flesh, semi-carapace skin on her forehead, something she started doing at the last third of his story. "You not only set this thing free, but withheld information from it, all in order to turn it against the Swarm. And you did this just so our current situation would happen; just so you could see me fight it?"

"It really wasn't hard." Stukov said. "Vaus is spring-loaded zealot. He just needed a push."

Saraslha pinched her forehead harder, and was breathing more heavily, looking at him up through a glaring brow. "You…" She growled this.

" _Try to calm yourself, my Princess."_ Rindell said.

"You… Jackass!" Saraslha jumped on the rock and ran across the top toward Stukov. Her motions were sudden, violent and rapid.

She tackled him. But she was barely half his body mass, and he didn't go down. She tried to claw him. "You sucky, sucky Stukov. You're a sucky Stukov!"

Stukov had caught her wrists as she tried to hit him. He was stronger than her, and only stepped back as she wrestled against him. He was composed as ever. "Calm yourself, little one."

Rindell came up behind Saraslha as she tried to out-arm strength Stukov. She approached tentatively, her claw hands out. "You, take her." Stukov moved Saraslha away from himself, far enough for Rindell to grab her.

Rindell circled her arms under Saraslha's in a full nelson hold. She was lifted up into the air, and Saraslha kicked wildly, glaring at Stukov as she tried to free herself from Rindell's hold. "I'm going to maroon you on an asteroid the size of my table, you… you…" Many long seconds, "sucky…" and she ran out of aggression, letting herself slacken. "…Okay… okay, Rindell. Let me go."

Rindell complied, and then Saraslha walked away a couple of paces, still breathing hard, fuming. Rindell was watching her closely, _"the Vice Admiral is not our enemy, my Princess."_

"I know." Saraslha said through her angry hyperventilating. "I didn't sic my Brood on him, did I?"

" _And regardless of the source, the present reality is we must deal with the Cerebrate Vaus and his Brood."_

Saraslha let out an especially hard exhale, "you're right…" She then wheeled around and pointed at Stukov. "You." Her face had suddenly become cold, sober, serious. "You're going to help me. Is that understood?"

He nodded without breaking his calm composure. "I'm at your disposal, little one."

Saraslha turned to the rock serving as her outdoor war room table, walking back to it. Nova was still there, watching with interest. "I apologize for that display," Saraslha said to Nova. "If you want to bail, I wouldn't blame you."

She shook her head. "No. I'm on your side in this." She looked at Stukov taking his spot at the table again. "I was going to infiltrate that place and kill the thing in its cage, until he set it loose. Now I'll have to kill it the hard way."

Stukov indifferently looked at his own infested hand, holding it up to his face and scratching his fingers with the other fingers. "You're a big girl. Something tells me you'll deal."

Saraslha was busily drawing a rough map into the creep of the table with the claw on her index finger. "Huddle in, people. I've thought of a plan."

"You thought of a plan during a temper tantrum?" Nova asked.

"Yes," she answered simply. "And it's solid gold, so listen close."

* * *

 **Hours later**

In the later evening, after the weather had cooled, Nova was at a vantage point overlooking the length of a large ravine. The area she surveyed was thick with green flora on both high ground and low.

Donning her visor and switching it to thermal scan revealed a massive horde of heat signatures moving under the canopy. They entered through passes at the far end of the ravine from her, and were headed toward the high cliff on which she was situated.

" _They're coming through this ravine, just like she said."_ Nova spoke telepathically to her team of Ghosts. Black smoke rose into the air past the ravine in the distance. _"Maintaining flame walls in the alternate passes really worked."_

" _We need the ordnance. Now."_ One of the Ghosts said. They had all taken vantage points at different locations around the ravine.

Nova's communicator vibrated, and she pressed answer: _"Nuclear missiles ready."_ Came the simple report from Stukov. _"You have the launch codes."_

She became intent at this; excited. The horde of Vaus' Brood were halfway through the ravine. _"Now, reap the whirlwind."_

Every Ghost in her squad understood this code phrase. She leveled her canister rifle at a designated area, which was fast being approached by the Zerg. There was a keypad on the rifle which she interacted with telekinetically, holding the gun's sight straight with both hands. Through the scope, the area she aimed at was lit red by the rifle's User Interface.

Seconds, agonizingly long seconds of stillness before the hell. Sephulli was a mostly green planet with a blue sky. For a few seconds, it became a mostly orange planet with a dark sky. The ravine, the Brood passing through the ravine, were hit across their expanse with a rapid succession of six tactical nuclear missiles, each directed by a Ghost from a vantage point to a select area.

The advancing Zerg force had been completely annihilated. Nova looked down, and saw allied armies coming from the low ground to the left and right of her perch. They advanced through the cleared out ravine. Stukov's infested Terrans came from the left, and Rindell's Brood from the right. They easily wiped out the token number of survivors from the nuclear strike.

And then she saw something peculiar; something not in the plan. As they passed through the ravine, the two armies passed through each other, each filing through the other group. This carried on until the two armies fully switched places. After this, both forces advanced, taking passes out of the far end of the ravine which they'd exchanged.

"Switched at the last second…" Nova said aloud, frowning in thought at what she'd just observed below.

This means… _"Whatever Vaus throws at the Terrans will instead come up against Rindell's Brood, and the force he intends for Rindell will instead come up against the Terrans."_

* * *

" _That is correct, Nova. All warfare is based on deception."_ Saraslha was inside her Leviathan, inside its nerve center. The creature had fully developed, but was kept in its concealed spot near her main Hive Cluster. A Leviathan's brain was a much larger version of the Overlord's. It had the same flight instincts, the same transporter instincts, and it helped maintain control of her Brood.

Inside this nerve center, she could sense Rindell, Stukov, Nova, and all of their people. She also sensed Vaus' Brood. Her alliance and Vaus' Brood were about matched for numbers, but that nuclear strike had tipped the scale. She broadcast a message to her three commanders: _"All units, report."_

Rindell: _"I am advancing northeast, my Princess. Our foe's Hive Clusters there will soon be no more."_

Stukov: _"I'm sensing a strike force east of the ravine. We're digging in and letting them come to us."_

Nova: _"My team and I are relocating to the next area, over."_

Overqueen Zagara's non-aggression agreement with the Terran Dominion was not the same as an alliance. Nova was under no obligation to help them. Saraslha convinced her to stay and help on the grounds that the planet would end up turned over to the Dominion. Also it wouldn't be good to leave the job half-finished.

Saraslha sensed the other presence; the presence of Cerebrate Vaus. It was strong, and there was no ignoring it. It also sensed her, but did not say anything. That is, until this moment. The creature broke its silence: _"You direct these other minds, direct Alexei. And yet they are all stronger than you. Why is this so?"_

Saraslha was surprised at finally hearing his voice. She expected the voice of a Cerebrate to be alien and single-minded. This voice rang with experience, and the bearing of a heavy weight. _"Listen, we have no reason to be fighting. Let's talk this out."_

" _Are you Zerg?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Do you follow the Queen of Blades?"_

" _...No. But there's a reason for—"_

" _Then there is a reason for us to be fighting. I will accept no other ruler of the Swarm. And I will slaughter all dissidents in her name. Make of that what you will."_

" _But our current ruler was endorsed by the Queen of Blades; Zagara is her named successor."_

" _Be that as it may._ _This… is the only purpose left to me now. I was created specifically to protect her. I should have died when she killed me. But I survived, and have awoken to a world in which she no longer exists. This is all I have."_

Saraslha's brow relaxed. In the physical privacy of her Leviathan's nerve center. She felt she understood where he was coming from. _"Vaus…"_

His tone normalized again, and switched to anger; to determination. _"If you think what I am doing is wrong, then prove it. If you think I must be stopped, then kill me. Show me that the world she left behind is strong. Show me it is worthy of life."_

Saraslha clenched her teeth, glaring now. She was excited at this challenge, and allowed it to be the last word as she closed the connection with him. More Zerg of Vaus' Brood suddenly appeared on the live mapping provided by her web of watch posts. He was calling in his reserves.

" _My Princess, my resource gatherers are under attack."_

" _What!"_ Saraslha shifted her scope to Rindell's Hive Clusters. The Drones gathering resources were being rapidly killed off by projectiles fired at range. They came from Hydralisks in concealed positions behind the Mineral Fields.

Saraslha's own Hive Clusters were under similar attack. Her resource-gathering Drones were being killed. _"I don't understand… how did they get past my watch posts?"_

" _You are an amateur, little leader. A product of the current age."_ The message came from Vaus. _"I injected a long chain of your watch posts with parasites. They have not reported to you. And I quickly injected a large force into your territory via Nydus Canal."_

He still used Nydus Canals. The static, stationary precursor to Nydus Worms. She couldn't help but be amused at this. Vaus' Brood was practically an antique.

An antique that was wreaking havoc in she and her allies' bases.

"Oh, shoot, shoot, shoot…" Saraslha was hectic. Her own Brood was kept in reserve, concentrated at her main Hive Cluster. They dealt with the resource raiders there quickly. But all her other Clusters were still under attack.

" _Little one, Benjamin tells me our SCVs are being hit."_

" _I know!"_ She didn't think anything could get past her watch posts undetected, and therefore didn't have compunctions about committing everything to the advance. She had her own Brood in reserve, and quickly divided them up and sent them to every nearby Hive Cluster.

The damage was done. Even when her reserves would hunt down Vaus' raiding parties, the major blow to she and her allies' resource incomes will have been dealt.

And yet this too ended up denied to her. On their way to the other Hive Clusters, her reserves were ambushed by parties of Lurkers; burrowing Zerg that shot long chains of deadly spines out of the ground. There was no way to detect them underground without special detection; an Overlord or Spore Crawler, neither of which she sent with her divided reserve forces. These reserve forces were eliminated.

Slowly, the situation at each base was rectified by the production of new fighting units. But even more damage had been done, and it took time to find and kill Vaus' Nydus Canal.

Saraslha was curled in a ball, holding her own head in a vicegrip. How could she be so foolish? She knew her opponent's history, yet still she underestimated him.

" _What are your orders?"_ She didn't even discern who was asking.

" _Retreat."_ She said. _"Everyone, pull everything back."_ There was no way they could continue the advance. If the attack failed, they would be completely helpless with no backup and no defenses. She saw Vaus pulling ever more reserves from the ground along with hatching eggs. His control capacity was higher than hers and Rindell's put together.

"I have to… think of something…" She felt in a daze. Her plan had fallen apart; their advantage nipped off its base at the softest point. _"What was I thinking?"_ She asked this in her psionic voice by accident. If the Protoss armada, Dominion fleet and UED fleet together weren't enough to stop this thing in the Brood War, what made her think she could?

Vaus' Brood struck out of his territory, pursuing Saraslha's retreating armies.

This move caused her to snap into alertness. She leaned forward, seeing through the eyes of Overlords and watch posts. Something was off; not right. How would Vaus know so soon that her forces were retreating? They were all in marching between strategic areas when the order was given.

She looked down, at the biomass floor of the physical space she occupied. Her eyes darted in different directions, thinking, deducing.

* * *

It was twilight on the planet Sephulli. The sun was setting, and it was beginning to get dark.

Rindell, Stukov and their armies made it back to friendly territory with the enemy Brood nipping at their heels. The thundering blasts of Siege Tanks belonging to Stukov's swarm welcomed them as they entered the base serving as a defensive position. The heavy artillery pounded the enemy Zerg as they continued their relentless pursuit.

Stukov and Rindell turned around, and opened fire at the pursuers alongside an array of occupied Bunkers. Rindell threw her remaining Zerglings into the enemy to screen them and slow their approach. Another volley of Siege Tank blasts.

They destroyed the attacking force, but it was hardly a dent in the overall enemy number. Vaus had re-expanded to new resource nodes, and his forces continued to grow.

"I'm hoping the little one has a plan." Stukov said.

" _I have no doubts in the Princess. When my victory against her was assured, she was able to turn everything around. She is the strongest Zerg; stronger even than Vaus."_

"Do you think her plan involves a Leviathan?"

Rindell looked up, and saw the massive Zerg had flown out of its semi-concealed spot. In the dusk-lit sky, it was as a titanic shadow. _"My Princess, what are your orders?"_ She said to it, knowing her to be inside.

There was no reply. Complete psionic silence. Then, in monolith motion inherent to a being of its immense mass, the Leviathan gained speed, passing over them.

" _She's abandoning us."_ The voice came from Nova.

" _Shut your arrogant mouth, human."_ Rindell snapped.

But the Leviathan did ascend, entering the upper atmosphere of the planet. Its profile shrank as the distance grew and it entered orbit.

"That's… not good." Stukov said. "If the little one thinks it's a lost cause, it's a lost cause."

" _You guys do what you want."_ Nova said over long range communication. _"My team and I are laying low until the Dominion fleet arrives."_

" _I do not understand…"_ Rindell said aloud, looking at the horizon which Saraslha's Leviathan had vanished into. _"If she saw fit to abandon the planet, why would she not bring us along?"_

" _When have Zerg ever given a crap about other Zerg?"_ Nova replied to this. _"You animals literally eat your dead."_

" _You liked her, and her abandonment is getting to you."_ Rindell said to Nova. _"She must have liked you as well, since she offered you a place in the Swarm."_

" _Tch, whatever. I can't believe I took orders from that… child. She's either a complete coward, or doesn't give a crap about anyone."_

Alexei Stukov, ignoring their bickering in the calm after the defensive skirmish, calmly walked out of the base entrance.

" _Where are you going, Stukov?"_ Rindell asked after him.

He stopped, and turned. "I need some fresh air. I'm going for a walk."

Rindell was confused at this. _"We are at war, this is not the time for recreation."_

He nodded in concession to this as he walked away nonetheless, waving backward. "Benjamin's in charge of my army while I'm out."

* * *

 **The Present**

Saraslha backed away from her mother a bit, her hands remaining on Zagara's sides. She looked up at her, her lower eyes still a bit damp. "I love you, mother." She said to her without reservation. "And I promise I'll tell you everything that's happened. The whole story, just you and me. But right now…" She looked up, past Zagara's head. Zagara looked that way as well.

Another Nydus Worm from the Leviathan had connected to an upper area of the main Hive Cluster. "That worm is going into my room. I'm just here to pick up some things."

Zagara looked down into her eyes again. _"What did happen on Sephulli, Saraslha?"_

She laughed a bit. "I can't tell you the story yet. Not until I have the whole thing." The worm retracted from the upper area of the Cluster, finished with its task. "I need to go now."

As Saraslha turned and half-jogged away, Zagara had a raised hand. _"When- when will you return?"_

"Real soon." Saraslha turned to face her from a distance, standing still and waiting for one of the Leviathan's Nydus Worms to pick her up. She was smiling as the Worm head came down and swallowed her.

As the Leviathan spurred into motion, turning and flying away, Zagara's raised hand lowered, ever so slowly. _"I… love you as well, Saraslha."_ She said privately, watching the flying mass shrink in the distance.

* * *

Alexei Stukov had made his way, alone and on foot, to Vaus' location. The location was a hilltop, illuminated by the light of the planet's full moon in the night sky. Vaus' Brood did not attack as Stukov approached the massive Ultralisk-Cerebrate.

" _What is the purpose of your visit, Alexei?"_

He stopped in front of Vaus about five meters away. "I'm here to do something I may end up regretting."

" _Have you reconsidered my offer?"_

He inhaled, but then exhaled equally as hard. "No. I'm here to fight you."

" _Your small commander has abandoned you."_

Stukov had a flask of vodka out. "Be that as it may, it does not release me from my… duties." He took a drink.

" _You…"_ His tusks moved inward and outward in a gesture. _"Would make a worthy opponent. I assume one on one?"_

"Yes," he put his flask away. "And while we're fighting, your Brood will not attack my allies."

" _Agreed. I wish to allocate all of my focus against you."_

"Vaus… if your queen saw your actions now." It was entirely probable she did. "I think she would appreciate your loyalty; credit you for it, but then she would release you from your obligations."

" _That is… a kind sentiment, Alexei. But it is impossible to know her mind now."_

This was true, even given Vaus' ignorance as to the exact nature of her fate. Stukov charged a Corrosive Blast. "Shall we begin?"

" _Yes!"_ With alarming immediacy, Vaus brought both his long tusks to inward swings upon Stukov.

He'd leaped backward, evading the deadly enclosure. The tusks of an ordinary Ultralisk were dangerous enough, but Vaus' body was that of the original Torrasque. He let loose his Corrosive Blast directly into Vaus' main body.

The Blast had stopping power, and an involuntary roar of pain came out of Vaus' orifices.

Stukov dodged the next full-body swing by ducking. He continued moving backward, trying to keep distance. Vaus pursued, trotting on his emphasized legs and avoiding a full-speed gallop which could not make tight turns.

As they circled the moonlit hilltop, Stukov keeping distance, Vaus pursuing, Vaus unleashed a Psionic Lash, which Stukov narrowly dodged. His next Corrosive Blast was ready, and he fired it again.

Vaus' tusks came in on him again, immediately following the Psionic Lash and retaliatory Corrosive Blast. With no time to move after dodging the psionic attack and then firing his blast, he caught both tusks out in his hands.

The tusks were dull; designed as kinetic impact weapons which would not get stuck in metal or bone. It became a contest of raw strength as Vaus brought his tusks in to crush Stukov, who was holding them out in his hands.

Stukov saw the two gaping wounds on Vaus' main body, caused by his Corrosive Blasts. They were slowly ejecting the acidic material, and regenerating the wounds. As these wounds recovered, the muscle power behind his tusks increased.

He buckled as he tried to keep the tusks enclosing on him. Psionic energy gathered outside Vaus' skull; he had enough charge for another Psionic Lash.

Stukov's next Corrosive Blast was ready. The tusks had dug deep pits into his palms, even with their dullness. Stukov wrapped his clawed, infested left hand around that tusk, and fired the blast.

The Tusk was eaten through near his hand, and then the broken appendage swung past in front of him. With his right hand still lodged in its tusk, he leaped leftward, supported by its inward swing. Vaus' Psionic Lash missed.

And then Stukov was impaled. On one of the two smaller bone blades under the larger set. Vaus had lunged forward and ran him through with one of his shorter, pointed tusks. Stukov groaned a bit at this predicament as he was lifted into the air by this skewer. He laughed a bit. "Is that… Is this what I've been doing to enemies at close range..?" He laughed a bit more; pained laughter. "By the Zerg's Goddess it hurts like a son of a bitch."

Vaus leveled his larger tusks at Stukov's upper body, and brought them out in preparation for an inward swing. Stukov was in reach of the broken off one as well. Even impaled and suspended in the air, he brought his hands up and caught the larger tusks. "You're really... going to make this difficult, aren't you? You crazy son of a bitch."

" _You're holding out quite well, I must say."_ Vaus remarked.

" _Stop!"_ The voice was that of a third party.

Saraslha's Leviathan was back. It had homed in on the site of the duel, coming to idle as a looming presence near it. It was not attacked by Vaus' Brood per his standing order not to attack during the duel. Saraslha continued speaking, in a loud, amplified psionic voice from inside her Leviathan: _"Stukov, tag me in, quickly!"_

"Tag you in…" Stukov said aloud as he held Vaus' large tusks away while impaled in the air. "Are you out of your damn mind? He'll kill you like a drowned puppy."

" _Listen to your friend, little leader."_ Vaus said to Saraslha. _"You would hold out poorly against me."_

" _Stukov."_ Saraslha said forcefully. _"Checkmate in two. Two! Do you understand?"_

Stukov slowly caught on to this. He looked up at Vaus. "Is tagging in allowed?"

He could practically sense Vaus rolling his eyes. _"I am nothing if not a good sport. If your little leader wishes to throw her life away, I will not refute."_

A Nydus Worm came down, and dropped Saraslha on the hilltop. She was holding what looked like a cluttered set of steel bands and locks, with mechanisms at some of the joints which displayed unlit transparent surfaces.

Vaus flung Stukov off his smaller tusk, causing him to drop and roll across the ground, grunting as it happened. _"What is that you're holding?"_ he said as he walked up to Saraslha, superimposing his giant mass over her puny form. One of his tusks had been broken off, and he was injured from Stukov's Corrosive Blasts, but he was still significantly stronger than her.

"Oh, this?" She held it up in both hands. It dangled and swayed; almost a tangled mess. "This is a Psi-Insulator. Once I get it around your big head, you'll no longer be a threat to me, or my people."

Vaus laughed at this. _"And you just tell me what it does? Have you no tact; I will not let it near my cranium now."_

Saraslha suddenly had a low, almost evil look. "I don't need tact now, Vaus. I've already won."

Vaus was about to chop her in half with a full-body slash of his unbroken large tusk. But his body did not respond. He was able to raise it outward, but it took an exorbitant amount of time for it to do so. _"What… what is going on?"_ He swung his tusk at her, but the motion was sluggish; she simply ducked, and walked under it as it passed overhead.

No part of him was responding with any reliability. And when it did, it was slow.

"You see, Vaus. I know that the brains of you and that Torrasque aren't merged. You've got two in there; one bigger than the other for sure, and right next to each other, but still two and separate. You're controlling that body the same way you control your other Brood." Saraslha walked calmly to his side, and climbed up his body, holding the dangling Psi-Insulator out with one hand and climbing with her other.

Vaus recognized this weakness; this lack of control. _"The… Psi-Disruptor was destroyed. How is there one here?"_ It also kept him from getting an order out to his Brood; their standing order not to attack stood.

Saraslha continued climbing up his unresponsive, sluggish body. "You're not with the times, Vaus. The Terrans rediscovered the technology, and brought a heaping ton of them along in their invasion of Char, during the Second Great War. I found one, and fixed it up by taking parts from the other ones. Once I found the schematics in the database of an abandoned Command Center, it was easy." Her Leviathan contained a Psi-Disruptor. And she had it activated as soon as Vaus accepted her tag-in. "I'm telling you all this because there's no way for you to beat me now."

" _You're… cheating."_

"No doubt." She got atop his shoulder, and placed the set of linked cage-like objects on his head, orienting them around its ovular shape and clicking the locks together. The devices on the joints were activated by Vaus' own psionic energy, and began to light.

Stukov had gotten on his feet, and approached the scene. There was naught he could do but watch as the small, weak being rendered the large, powerful one completely helpless.

And there was nothing Vaus could do but try sluggishly to move around as Saraslha completed the encasement of the Psi-Insulator around his skull. Once it was set and fully active, Vaus' body went limp and collapsed.

"I have a question." Stukov said as he walked up to examine her handiwork, standing next to her as she hopped off the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell anybody your plan? Everybody was… is, kind of mad at you."

"He could hear all of our communications." She explained. "I don't know how, and I plan to interrogate him on it, but every psionic message sent between you, me, Rindell and Nova; Vaus had an ear to all of them. I couldn't tell you guys anything because I couldn't have him knowing I was up to something."

Stukov nodded at this. "Clever. He listens in on our talking about you abandoning us, and then genuinely believes you were running away, not going to fetch some tools."

"Yeah…" Saraslha was scratching behind her head. "I hope Rindell and Nova aren't too upset with me."

"Rindell didn't believe you abandoned her for a second. And Nova… You did what you had to. She can relate to that."

A Nydus Worm had come down from the Leviathan. It came over the Limp, motionless Vaus, and get its mouth around him before sucking him up its esophagus.

"I have to ask, Alexei… And don't take it the wrong way."

"What?"

"Why… are you so supportive toward me?"

He turned around, toward the Leviathan. "I believe you've asked this question before."

"Yes, but now it's serious. I really want to know." She walked up to stand next to him.

He took a deep breath. His injuries from Vaus had recovered, leaving only the damage to his clothes. "You know… that I am originally from Earth, yes?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I have a family on Earth; children, who I am never going to see again; can never see again. I'm certain they're alive right now, living their lives without me. Far as they know… I am deceased."

Saraslha felt touched by this story. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose one's family."

Stukov looked down at her face. "Hopefully you will never have to learn, little one." His own damaged, aura-riddled face had a warm smile.

Saraslha returned the expression, her eyes beaming.

Promptly, Stukov walked ahead of her. "Have your thing pick us up now, eh? Vaus' Brood is all over; we'd best not stick around."

"Of course," still smiling, she had the Leviathan lower another Nydus Worm as she came up next to him. "It's a good thing I swooped in to save your arse, eh?" She said, imitating his accent.

"Ahh," he waved it off. "I had him on the ropes."

She maintained her smile as the Nydus Worm swallowed them both in quick succession.


	6. The Defiant

Zagara had followed Saraslha to planet Sephulli with an army that numbered in the millions. In the morning following Saraslha's victory over Vaus, Zagara's massive brood flooded the orbit over the planet.

At around the same time, the Dominion fleet arrived. Its commander and Zagara established contact, and no fire was exchanged.

* * *

Saraslha was walking through a corridor of her Leviathan. The creature was situated in the heart of her allies' territory, safe from Vaus' once again aimless Brood. She sensed her mother's massive swarm, as well as the Dominion Fleet holding orbit. Zagara's own Leviathan was coming in, entering the upper atmosphere of the planet.

"This planet is starting to feel like a crime scene." She said aloud to herself. She was approaching a specific section of the giant creature's interior: the holding cells.

A female voice was heard around the next bend, "You're getting on my nerves, bug-brain. The creature needs to be killed."

Rindell's voice replied to this: _"On this vessel, you will do nothing without the Princess' leave, Nova."_

Saraslha approached, and was noticed by both of them. They were standing in a broader hub space surrounded by cells. "Saraslha," Nova said to her. "Please tell me you plan on killing the damn thing."

She crooked her head, "what thing?"

"Vaus, the Cerebrate. Nice and chained and psi-insulated in your holding cell."

Rindell rebutted again. _"He is a Zerg, Nova, and will face Zerg judgement, not yours."_

Saraslha stood across from the two of them. "I'm actually kind of hoping to convince him to join me."

"Well then allow me to share a bit of input?" Nova was tense; impatient. She looked toward Saraslha intently.

She shrugged. "Go ahead, make your case."

Nova swallowed. "That thing is a liability. There's a reason the Queen of Blades killed them off. Cerebrates have a hierarchical hard-wiring." She looked at Rindell. "If there is no Overmind, a Cerebrate will look for a way to become, or create a new one."

Saraslha was cleaning her ear with a claw. "You're talking like it's a stone-set cause and effect; no free will involved."

"I'm describing the risk." Nova said. "Why would you even try to win him over? He tried to kill us all. In fact, he still wants to."

"If I can win him over…" Saraslha had her hands clasped behind her back, looking downward with a slightly pained expression. "Then… I won't have to kill him, or any more of his Brood. No more killing, do you understand?" Her gaze leveled, looking at Rindell and Nova, her face became more strained. "Ever since coming to this planet, I've seen my kind killing others of my kind; trying to wipe them out like there was something defective about them that merited extinction. I hate it!" She shouted the last sentence.

Rindell looked away, she had no words.

"Saraslha…" Nova was frowning gently, "you're… still a child. You don't understand that some people are beyond saving. You have to eliminate these people, or they'll eliminate the things you care about. Vaus said he wanted to kill your mother."

"And that makes it okay for me to sink to that level?"

"Yes." Nova said matter-of-factly. "Yes it does."

" _The human makes a persuasive argument, my Princess."_ Rindell said. _"The Swarm does not need another Overmind."_

"He's loyal to the Queen of Blades, and would never make an Overmind. I'm not going to kill him for resisting me because of that very integrity." Saraslha was stoic; defiant. "Is that understood?"

Nova looked upward, groaning in frustration. Her head snapped forward again. "Fine. But if you're going in there to talk, I'm going with you, alright?"

Saraslha suddenly had a bright, optimistic smile. "Your accompaniment is always welcome, Ghost lady." She turned to Rindell. "What about you?"

" _Yes. You will require a guard in the company of that prisoner."_

Saraslha didn't object to this as she walked past them. They entered a large solitary confinement cell. Its floor, and domed walls and ceiling were made of solidified bone. The dome was in two layers, which rotated in opposite directions to create an opening which allowed Saraslha and party inside.

A light-producing organ hanging from above illuminated the prisoner. His massive body was tied down at nearly every point by thin, but dense tentacles coming out of the flat floor. The tensile strength of these tentacles was immense; Vaus would not be strong enough to break them. The natural, unconscious breaths of his Ultralisk body were crisply audible in the bone-like containment cell.

Saraslha walked up close to Vaus, close to his large head. The Psi-Insulator was secured around it, and fully active. She found a regulator knob on one of its lit apparatus, and turned it down slightly. "There," she said. "Now you should be able to talk."

" _I can indeed."_ Vaus was still limp and tied down, but his voice was clear as day. _"I assume such is the purpose of your visit."_

Saraslha backed away to be next to Rindell and Nova. "I'd like to continue from our original discussion.

" _Continue?"_

"Yes." She said. "When we first talked, you asked me why my allies took orders from me, in spite of the fact that…" She looked right and left at Rindell and Nova next to her. "They're stronger than me."

" _I do remain curious of this. The Queen of Blades had immense power; you're a weakling."_

Saraslha's face had no tension, and she spoke with a light, matter-of-fact ease, "they followed me because I made them even stronger."

" _You make them…"_ Vaus processed this.

"And I would make you stronger as well, if you would join me."

" _I cannot do that."_

"I'm offering you something to gain, Vaus. Under me, you'll be truly invincible."

" _Power is meaningless to a traitor. I follow the Queen of Blades."_

"You'll still be following her, alongside the rest of the Swarm. She wouldn't want you to kill us simply because she's not around any longer."

" _You do not speak for her, little leader."_

"But her actions do speak for her. If she desired that the Swarm not live on, don't you think she would have destroyed it herself?"

" _Did she have this choice?"_

Saraslha was reminded that Vaus still didn't know the exact nature of his master's fate. Perhaps he didn't want to know. "Vaus… she's not really dead. The opposite, in fact."

" _What is the story you hint at?"_

Rindell stepped forward. _"She is a god now; our God. Zagara leads the Swarm, but the Zerg all remain faithful followers of the Queen of Blades."_

"Do you understand now?" Saraslha said. "Your desire to wipe us out is nothing but a crutch for your weakness. The Queen of Blades went away, and you've failed to adapt to that."

" _Be that as it may,"_ he conceded. _"I can follow no other."_

What a brick-brain… Saraslha thought as she rubbed a hand over her face. "Alright, I'm going to leave you alone now. Know that I cannot release you unless I can be sure you won't be a threat to my people."

Vaus did not reply as the three turned, and exited the cell. Its layers opened, then rotated shut behind them as the light inside dimmed.

They stopped outside the cell, in the hub room connected to a circle of other cells, as well as narrow passes into other hub rooms of the prison section. Nova spoke: "I get that you care about your fellow Zerg, Saraslha. Ordinary Terrans are the same way about members of their own species…"

"There's going to be a 'but' next, right?' Saraslha was looking down at the biomass flooring.

"But," she continued. "If you can't kill the ones who pose a danger to those you care about, then you've no business caring at all."

"Killing him would be a pain in the hiney job." Saraslha said, her head turned to look at Nova detachedly. "It's not like you can just shoot him. Cerebrates are notoriously hard to kill."

"I know," Nova said. "My plan is to ship him to the Daelaam. They'll do the job good and right."

"And you're certain your shipment won't be intercepted by some other opportunist in some other part of Dominion Space, interested in cloning them some Cerebrates?"

"I'm going to guard the shipment myself." Nova said. "He won't leave my sight until the Daelaam have destroyed him."

A new voice interjected: _"I assume you speak of the leader of the Renegades?"_ It was Zagara.

Saraslha sensed Zagara's Leviathan having situated itself next to her own. There was a connection via Nydus Worm. Zagara entered the prison hub chamber on her formation of legs. "Mother!" She greeted cheerily. "You're late to the party. Our discussion is about cleanup."

Zagara stopped close to the trio, and looked at Nova. _"What is your name, human?"_

"Nova, your majesty." She lowered her head in a slight, courteous bow. "A Dominion Ghost. I helped your daughter against the Renegade Cerebrate."

" _I thought I sensed a Cerebrate."_ Zagara next looked at Rindell. _"And why is it you're here, Broodmother Rindell?"_

"She's with me." Saraslha stepped between them. "She came trying to kill me, I cooked her alive, we had a talk, and now she's my gal." She looked back at Rindell. "You my gal?"

" _I'm your gal."_

"She's my gal."

Zagara was visibly surprised. _"You not only defeated a Broodmother, but secured her allegiance."_

"Yeah, it's quite the story."

" _And you can share it with me in due time, daughter. For now, let us remain focused on business."_

She nodded, "of course. We were just discussing what to do with the Cerebrate."

" _Where is Stukov?"_

"He said he needed a nap." Saraslha explained. "He's somewhere upstairs, catching some Z's."

" _And what do you plan to do with the Cerebrate, Saraslha?"_ Zagara was genuinely curious, wanting to know her thoughts.

To this, she took a deep breath, "I kill him, and killing off his Brood becomes easy. But if I can convince him to join me, getting his Brood off the planet will be even easier. And much quicker."

Zagara shook her head. _"I am under no pressure to clear off this planet, daughter. The Dominion force is concentrated on the remains of a base of Moebius remnants. They've cleared the renegades form that area, and are investigating it."_

"So then… why did you come all the way out here?" Saraslha asked.

Zagara looked off, sobered. _"I sent you here, out of psionic range of Char, out of my sight. For a span of time I did not know your state, or what you were doing."_

"You sent Stukov to shadow me. That counts for something." Saraslha's eyebrows raised a little.

" _I regret my decision."_ Zagara said. _"I am here to support you, Saraslha, for the rest of your mission here."_

" _The Princess wishes to bring the Cerebrate into the Swarm, and not kill him."_ Rindell said to Zagara.

"If she resorts to killing the creature, I've volunteered to ship him to the Daelaam." Nova said.

Zagara turned to Saraslha. _"He is your prisoner, Saraslha. Do you truly think he can be won over?"_

She was frowning with thought. "He's loyal to the Queen of Blades. I've talked to him, and tried to use that as leverage to convince him to rejoin the Swarm. I mean, she's our god, isn't she? There's no reason not to think he and us have that in common."

Zagara began to laugh, and as she processed this, she laughed harder, in a joyous, lighthearted way. _"You still have much to learn, my child. The Zerg do not lead by persuasion. They lead by force of will."_ She looked toward Rindell. _"You follow my daughter because she broke you and beat you. Is that correct?"_

" _Indeed, Overqueen."_ Rindell answered. _"Saraslha is the strongest Zerg, second to you. She is worthy of my service."_

Saraslha shrank down a bit, her eyes getting a little beady. "But I did beat Vaus…"

" _Not completely."_ Zagara said. _"Evidently, he still feels he can resist."_

"I get where you're going with this…" Saraslha said.

" _Place him outside, on the open ground."_ Zagara said. _"This… stray, must be taught a lesson."_ She turned to leave.

"What exactly does this entail..?" Nova asked.

" _Zagara is going to show us why she's the overqueen."_ Rindell answered.

Nova pointed toward the direction in which Zagara left, looking toward Saraslha. "Is she really your mother? Like, your biological mother?"

"Yep," she said lightly. "She laid an egg, and I hatched from that egg. And no, before you ask, I don't have a father."

"But… you don't look anything alike."

"I was intelligently designed." Saraslha said, frowning now. "What are you going to say next? That it's weird? That it isn't natural? Speak your mind, Nova."

Nova just shook her head. "I was going to say that she seems to genuinely care about you. It's odd to see a Zerg behave in a way that's… human."

Saraslha had a light smile at this. "She declared peaceful intentions toward your people, Nova. What do you think is her plan behind that?"

"I now think she might really mean it."

Rindell interjected, _"Yes, the Overqueen can be caring and gentle. Now, let us observe what happens to her enemies."_

"It'll be entertaining to see, for sure," Saraslha said. She gave a mental command, and Vaus' cell opened fully on one half. A Nydus Worm came down from the top of the hub chamber, and went into the open cell to begin wrapping its mouth around Vaus as the binding tentacles loosened and receded back into the bone flooring. "You have no idea what you're in for, Vaus ol' buddy." Saraslha was shaking her head.

Once Vaus was sent through the Worm's esophagus, the Worm turned its head toward Saraslha. Rindell went in first, and Saraslha gestured toward Nova.

Nova backed a step, raising her hands. "No thanks, I'll take the long way."

"Come on," Saraslha was rolling her eyes. "A Nydus Worm wouldn't hurt a fly. Try not to breathe or move around and you'll be fine."

"You seriously want me to get swallowed by that thing, like a Zerg."

Saraslha sighed, shaking her head. "You're a long way from being a Broodmother, Nova."

"I don't want—" Saraslha had already been swallowed by the Worm before she could retort. "…To be political."

Vaus was dropped into a clearing beneath the two Leviathans, near Saraslha's main Hive Cluster. The Psi-Insulator around his head kept him from doing anything, and he remained limp.

Zagara was there, and she was joined by Rindell, and then Saraslha coming out of the same Nydus Worm as Vaus. Nova was a distant third, having worked up her nerves and allowed the creature to swallow her. When she landed on her feet in the creep spread of the nearby Cluster, her arms were wrapped around herself and she walked tightly and briskly over to the group.

Saraslha put a hand on her shoulder, smirking. "Well done, Nova. You did a fine job, a fine job."

Nova twitched, still somewhat unnerved. "Don't patronize me, Saraslha."

"Aww, I'm just congratulating you. I always knew Nydus Worms were safe for humans."

She suddenly had a glare. "You didn't know?!"

" _Saraslha."_ Zagara said. _"Please remove the… restraining apparatus from the Cerebrate."_

"You sure about that, mother?" Saraslha had turned away from the worked up Nova, and was looking in Zagara's direction. "I gotta warn ya, he's crazy strong. There's a reason Stukov is having himself a nap right now."

" _I am aware of this, daughter. Do it anyway."_

Tentatively, Saraslha aimed her hand at one of the insulators welded onto the metal framework of the homemade device. Her weak psionic bolt was enough to fry its circuits. With this gap in the device's insulation, Vaus' energy escaped his brain mass. The escaped energy gripped the steel cage, and ripped it in half and in opposite directions.

" _I am Zagara, overqueen of the Zerg Swarm"_ Zagara said to Vaus as he got back on his feet, once again in control of his body. _"The Swarm is a unified being. As a Zerg, you may not exist outside it."_

" _I… cannot obey you."_ Vaus said. " _I only serve the Queen of Blades."_

" _I serve her as well,"_ Zagara said. _"She handed rule of the Swarm to me."_

" _Then you rule in her place."_ Vaus said. _"I acknowledge you as Leader of the Swarm. But I will not be a part of that Swarm."_

" _Then you will be broken!"_ Zagara's energy became prevalent. It made the air thicker, the morning light of the planet darker. A slight crater formed in the earth around her as the topsoil condensed. Vaus' large body was lifted into the air, his limbs restrained and his motions restricted as Zagara's overpowering psi energy imposed itself on him.

" _I cannot..."_ His own psi shot out of his physical being, resisting, rebelling against Zagara's power. A broad outburst of his own now unrestricted energy pushed away Zagara's at every angle around him. He could move again, and lowered back to the ground. _"I… will not… submit!"_ Three simultaneous Psionic Lashes were fired from the shell around his brain mass.

" _Fool."_ Zagara let these Lashes through at three points in her energy enclosure. They coned outside of it, spraying into the air above and wasted. Her psionic grip enclosed again over Vaus. He was grappled, and turned to a muscularly painful position. His feet remained on the ground as he was pinned into it. _"Change your arrogance, Cerebrate, or it will kill you."_

Zagara was an entire league stronger than Vaus. Saraslha did not see the faces of Rindell or Nova, but she knew that they would not speak, would not remark, and would not get involved. They would not look away.

* * *

It was the end of the line. Vaus had awoken after a long dormancy, and then was imprisoned. He only escaped with the help of another. And when he challenged the Swarm as it was; only a part of it, he was soundly beaten by a small being.

And now, when released and given a chance to challenge the being who had replaced his queen, he was outmatched, and about to be torn apart. His mind went to the small being who had placed the Insulator on him. She had offered him a chance to live; to rejoin the Swarm. And it was thanks to her that this offer was still available.

Perhaps this was to be. Perhaps random circumstance had a meaning in itself, and he was meant to submit, and live on with a changed allegiance; as a shifted being.

"… _No."_ He said aloud to his own thought. _"I will never turn away from the Queen; from my purpose. I will never be shifted."_ Zagara's psionic grip intensified. He would be executed for this refusal. The tendons and muscle tissue inside his body were being severed. Internal bleeding flooded his innards.

"Stop it, you're killing him!"

" _It must be done. If allowed free, he will kill all in his path of senseless rage."_

He could see… not Zagara, or the small one, her general, her human ally, or the lush, green planet he'd found himself emerging to. But rather…

The stairs were rigid, and hard, but also modest in size. To the flanks of this stairway, the space was filled with matter, light grey stone, with green vines and flowers of bright and expressive color.

He was surrounded in a clearing by a forest lush with life, sounds of nature and warmth. It was even thicker than that of Sephulli, and very different. The flowers, the sound, and the fauna were distinct.

He peered upward through the eyes of his controlled body, up the steps. At the top of these steps, past it all, past flanks of life and color, he saw her, and all tension around his physical eyes evaporated.

She wore a plain, flowing white dress, which seemed to deny any expression of color of its own, but rather accepted light from the surrounding life, while still maintaining its distinct, pure lack of pigment. She looked one hundred percent human with a natural face and glowing orange hair, but he knew it was her; the mental pattern was unique and unmistakable. "My Queen." He lowered his gaze. "I have failed, my death is imminent soon. However…" He continued speaking, "The ones who have beaten me are faithful to you. I can attest that they will be of great utility—"

He was cut off by another male voice, from out of view. "Your patience really is getting generous, Sarah. You're letting him get unsettled."

"He's entitled to say his piece, Jim." She said. "We must never talk down to others, any more than we can allow ourselves to be talked down to." Her footsteps were audible on the hard steps.

Vaus lifted his gaze, and noticed that she had come down the steps far enough to be at level eye contact with his elevated head. "I wish to say a few things." She said, "If you wouldn't mind."

"Of course, my Queen."

She nodded. "You were, for a long time my most powerful asset, Vaus. My greatest protector, both inside my Chrysalis and outside. You destroyed my enemies without restraint, and always placed my safety above all else." Her hand reached out. It did not reach his monster-like face, but he nonetheless felt it. "What I did to you, executing you, throwing you out as though you would turn on me. This was a mistake."

Hearing this acknowledgement caused a huge weight to be lifted from his mind. He felt an immense relief.

The male voice spoke to Vaus, "In the future, you're gonna learn some history about another invasion of Char. If you had been around then, you'd have ripped me a new one."

She smiled. "I'm glad you've survived all these years, and yet live on." She looked off, smiling a bit more, "life can be a very powerful thing, Jim."

"I hear you," he said. "Even when it's beat and gone, there's always some part that refuses to give up, some part that can never be taken."

"It is apparent…" Vaus' thinking mind was active. "That you are no longer in need of my protection, my Queen."

"That's correct." She said, nodding. "I opened this communication to you in order to say that I release you from my service. You're free, Vaus."

He felt overwhelmed by this. "I… am not certain what to do."

"You have a plan in place to escape from Zagara. If my mental count and memory are correct, it only needs a few more seconds." She spoke of the physical space he occupied; his situation. Time had slowed to a crawl during their conversation.

"No, I meant…" He meant the big picture.

She had nothing to say to this. The vision began to fade, and time began returning to its normal pace as his actual surroundings became real again. The male voice said something, just before the vision left completely. "Your life is your own. She'd want you to live it."

* * *

Zagara was doing the only rational thing left, Saraslha was aware of this. Vaus had refused to submit, and he could not be allowed to go free. She twisted his Ultralisk body, bending it into an unnatural, immovable position. Saraslha saw Nova next to her with a radio out. Once Vaus' body was sufficiently broken, she would call for transport, and have the remains shipped to the Daelaam, whom would ensure that a reincarnation would not occur.

" _This is your final moment of consciousness, Cerebrate. Have you any last words?"_ Zagara said.

"… _No."_

A Nydus Canal shot out of the Creep from underneath Vaus. Its mouth-like entrance formed around him, and even without control of his body, it was able to grip and swallow him.

Zagara's energy, deprived of a target, imploded in the area next to the Nydus Canal. Just after swallowing Vaus, the Canal entrance was killed and the ground around it blasted.

" _A Nydus Canal?"_ Zagara was audibly surprised. _"How can that be?"_

Saraslha was equally shocked by what happened. "He…" She blinked, realizing what happened. "He was hiding the lump under his belly as the canal exit developed." Her hand was on her forehead, and her brow was a distressed glare. "How could I have been so stupid?" When the Psi Insulator had been taken off his skull, he had regained control of his Brood. A Nydus Canal could form its counterpart on any Creep, regardless of who it belonged to. "And now, Vaus could be kilometers away."

" _He will not get far."_ Zagara announced. Her gigantic Swarm in orbit was coming into the upper atmosphere. Its sheer number choked the morning light in the sky with a sense of unnatural night.

Saraslha had walked over to the broken off halves of her Psi Insulator, picking them up and looking at how much of a lost cause repairing it would be. "No… no… no…" Everything had been undone. "I have to beat him all over again…" He would be ready for her previous trick if she tried it again. "I have to… I have t—"

Zagara had come up from behind, placing a claw hand on her shoulder. _"I apologize, my child. This was my blunder. I asked you to remove the imprisoning device from his head."_

Saraslha became aware that her mother was present, with her massive swarm descending onto the planet. It was a source of help which a large part of her did not want to use. Saraslha's face twisted, and she scrunched her head. "You're not… disappointed in me?"

Zagara grabbed her around the waist, hugging her close from behind and rustling the short hair-cords on Saraslha's head with her other hand in an act of horseplay. _"…Nope!"_ Zagara said. _"I can't say I'm disappointed in you. Should I be?"_

This lighthearted response from her mother erased all tension from Saraslha's mind. She reached up, grabbing part of the diadem on Zagara's head, and easily pulled herself off the ground with one arm. Saraslha turned around gripping Zagara's head protrusions, propping her feet on her front body and smirking with their faces level. "Well I'm afraid I must express some level of disappointment in you, mother. Letting that Cerebrate get away, after all the trouble I went through catching him."

Zagara picked her up under her arms. They both laughed as they continued to mess around.

"Um…" Nova had a hand up, watching them going at it. "Shouldn't we be worried? Vaus is out there again."

" _It is of no concern."_ Zagara said to her while turning her head in that direction. Saraslha was dangling off one side of it, her feet just off the ground. _"The Brood I brought with me is ten times the number of his. He will not last."_

"Okay… And what's the plan for what to do with him?"

" _Yes… you're right."_ Zagara caught a midair kick thrown by Saraslha, trying to talk at the same time. _"Your services may be required in that regard. The Daelaam would not be receptive to a group of Zerg trying to give them a Cerebrate. Your people should make the delivery."_

"You've a keen sense of diplomacy, your majesty."

Saraslha had thrown another kick with her free foot, which Zagara also caught. She became absorbed in playing with her again. _"I could flip this entire hill on you if I wanted!"_ Saraslha was laughing.

"Um, okay." Nova just watched them continue to horseplay. "I'll be… ah," she looked at Broodmother Rindell. "Can you… call me, once they've caught the Cerebrate?"

Rindell looked off without speaking, then looked at Nova again, and nodded twice.

"Great," she had her hands up, and walked away backwards. Rindell turned her head, staring at her. "I'll be over with the Dominion force, seeing about borrowing a Battlecruiser."

Rindell processed this for a second, and then nodded again.

* * *

Zagara's Swarm overwhelmed that of Vaus. Even with his newly won freedom, he was surrounded by Zerg landing on the planet at all sides of his territory.

" _You brought this on yourself, Vaus."_ Saraslha knew his imprint, and was speaking to him psionically over distance. " _I wanted you to live."_

" _I am aware of this."_ Vaus said as he moved rapidly through the thick green flora of the planet. He and his Brood were in fighting retreat, being slowly ground away by Zagara's superior numbers. _"Your mother is quite powerful, little leader. Even stronger than the Queen of Blades during the Brood War."_

" _So what's your plan?"_ Saraslha asked. _"This isn't like Char Aleph. You have no maneuvering room."_

" _An unwinnable battle is not the same as a lost one. I will escape this planet."_ In their retreat, Vaus' Brood had to contend constantly with Zagara's forces coming from behind, their flanks, and landing in front of them from orbit.

" _Let's say you do escape. Do you plan on coming back later to wipe out the Swarm?"_

" _That is no longer my intent."_ Vaus said. _"The Queen has given me an order, though I've yet to decipher what it is. This order overrides my autonomous choice."_

" _I hope you realize I can't believe anything you say. This could be a ruse, to trick us into letting up on you."_

" _Of course. I would be just as untrusting of my enemy in your shoes."_

" _It's not even believable. The Queen of Blades said something to you? It sounds like something out of an old story."_

" _It is my own belief I act upon, not yours."_ Vaus' Brood reached the shoreline of one of the planet's expansive bodies of water; an ocean.

" _Looks like you cornered yourself, Vaus me old mate."_ Saraslha said.

All along the shoreline, dozens of Nydus Canals came out of the sand, having been burrowed. Normally, Zerg structures were too large and awkwardly shaped to burrow underground, but the sand of the beach line was loose and soft enough to make it feasible.

" _You, clever, bastard."_ Saraslha communed flatly. _"When did you set that up?"_

Vaus and his Brood all bee-lined for the Canals. _"When your allies made the nuclear strike against my assault force, I realized you had a chance of winning. This means of retreat was promptly put in place."_ He entered one, and was transferred rapidly underground, under the body of water.

" _How'd you get it to take you all across an ocean? No Nydus can cover that kind of distance."_

Vaus and his Brood all converged on a small island in this ocean. After covering a short distance over its jungled terrain, a new set of canals awaited them to take them to the next island in the hopping chain.

" _You're a mad genius, you know that? I'm starting to see how you won at Char Aleph."_

" _How do you know what I'm doing?"_ Vaus said as he entered the next Canal. _"I should be concealed from you."_

" _Take a guess, genius."_

He scanned himself, and found that a peeping parasite had been implanted in his Ultralisk body. It gave away all of his movements, as well as his location. He quickly concentrated a bit of psi energy around it, killing it.

" _Well done, but we're onto you now."_

" _It means nothing. There is a launching area on the other side of this ocean. It is now mathematically impossible for you to catch me before my Brood enters orbit, and then Warp."_

" _Then we're just going to follow wherever you go in Warp. You're not escaping, Vaus."_

" _I'd like to tell you where I'm headed, if you'd like a bit of free Intel, little leader."_ Another island, and another set of Nydus Canals. He and his Brood crossed the ocean rapidly.

" _Mm, I do like me some good Intel. Where ya goin?"_

" _Aiur."_

Saraslha's psionic voice audibly laughed at this. _"Are you out of your mind? The Protoss got their Homeworld back, you know. They'll destroy your arse."_

" _And yours as well, should you follow me there. They will surely see your Swarm over their Homeworld as an act of aggression."_

" _I see."_ She said. _"You don't plan on staying long. Warp in, warp out, and we have to follow you there to know where you head next."_

" _And I'm telling you this because I don't want your life to be in danger from the Protoss. Don't follow me."_ Vaus said.

" _And what if we just send a scouting party to peep, and then cut you off at your next destination?"_

" _I will kill this scouting party before warping again. You'll have to follow me with a large force, and damage your relations with the Daelaam."_

Saraslha audibly sighed at this over their long-distance communication. _"You really are a crazy bastard, Vaus."_ She said. _"Fine. Leave Sephulli, and stay out of Zerg Space. If the Swarm catches one whiff of you, our response will not be kind."_

" _You're allowing me to escape?"_

" _I'm sentencing you to exile, Vaus. You were given numerous chances to rejoin the Swarm, and you turned them all down. From this day forward we don't know you, we're not responsible for you, and if you bring your invasive presence to our territory or that of our allies, we won't think twice about eliminating you. You wanted independence, and now you'll have it."_

" _Your judgement is sound, little leader."_ Finally, he reached the shoreline across the ocean. Around half his Brood made it through Zagara's invasion to the Nydus canals. His launching area was nearby. _"I intend to find a place of isolation, and contemplate the Queen's words to me._

" _Farewell, Vaus. If we meet again, I'll have to kill you."_

* * *

What remained of Vaus' Brood fled from the planet, and Saraslha called off the hunt for him. Hours later, Zagara's Brood, Saraslha's, Rindell's, as well as Stukov's Infested Terrans all lifted off from the surface of the planet, leaving it clean of Zerg. Saraslha said her farewells to Nova, leaving the planet in the hands of the Dominion fleet.

They all returned to Char without incident. Stukov's swarm landed in a large compound several miles from the main Hive Cluster. Rindell was from Gystt, but was now in service to Saraslha, and so she and her Brood settled themselves in an area near the Main Cluster. Saraslha now had her own Leviathan, which idled in the air above the front lawn of the Main cluster until a better storage spot could be found for it.

At the end of the day, once everything had calmed. Saraslha and her mother were alone together, overlooking the landscape of Char from the main Hive Cluster. And it was there and then she told the entire story of what happened. She took her time, including every relevant detail and not rushing through. Occasionally Zagara had a question, but otherwise listened as Saraslha told the entire story.

" _They are called Pyrolisks, and they shoot a jet of fire?"_

"That's right." Saraslha was beaming as she described the Zerg breed which she'd invented herself. "A chemical mix based on the one used by an SCV's cutting torch. It includes grain-sized packs of natural gas, which erode quickly and then ignite upon contact with outside air."

" _Do you intend to get Abathur's input?"_

"The ultimate peer review." Saraslha nodded. "I fully intend to show them to him. He always has useful suggestions"

" _Broodmother Rindell, and then Cerebrate Vaus, both defeated by you. I did not plan for you to fight such strong opponents."_

"Eh," she jokingly brushed it off with a hand motion. "They were pushovers. I hope I get a real challenge next time."

" _Even though I created you with Terran essence…"_ Zagara was looking downward, thinking. Her hands rested on the railing. _"What you have is not a power by any description a Zerg would make. But it can be said nonetheless: your power is undeniable, Saraslha."_

"I'm still nowhere near your level, mother. Even accounting for the fact that what I have manifests itself… differently."

" _It is different, and that is the greatest thing the Swarm can attain. This power of yours will be undeniable to the senior Broodmothers as well, once this story is known to them."_ Zagara was looking upward now, at the sky. _"I want you to be with me for the next Summit, as well as any diplomatic visit I make outside of Zerg Space. As the next overqueen, you must learn a great number of things."_

Saraslha had turned around, leaning back against the railing. She felt stiff, pressured; overwhelmed by this. "So I guess it's official now."

Zagara's tone was gentle, and joyful, _"you could not remain a child, and conceal your gift forever, Saraslha."_

"I…" She felt on the verge of crying. "You accept me, then."

" _I should never have given you an impression otherwise."_

All of her emotions felt safe in coming to the surface, including negative ones. "When I was younger, you would always keep me out of sight; keep me concealed, as though you were ashamed of me." Her jaw clenched in a vicegrip as she stared away from the view. "If that's how you felt, why did you make me to begin with?"

" _Saraslha…"_

"Answer me." Her voice was a low growl.

" _I… was truly conflicted, over whether I had made the right decision in giving birth to you. A deliberately weak Zerg. It was unthinkable; everyone would find it unthinkable."_

She felt angry at this, and turned to walk away.

Zagara grabbed her hand, pulled her close and embraced her. _"I love you, Saraslha. I should have loved you from the moment you were born into this world. I'll admit that I'm not a perfect parent."_

She only resisted a bit. And then she broke down, beginning to sob. "You made me wonder whether my existence was a mistake."

" _I am so sorry for what I did to you. I wish never to hurt you again."_

Saraslha's cynical mindset immediately went to wondering whether this display of affection was only on account of her success on Sephulli. But then she remembered; it started when she came back to Char to pick up her Psi Insulator and Disruptor; before her mother knew anything about what happened.

All of her negative feelings from the past needed to be outletted. She broke down completely. Zagara embraced her just a little tighter as she cried. _"As any true Zerg is capable of, I have changed. You're my beautiful child, Saraslha."_

* * *

 **One hundred ninety eight days later**

The Sixth Summit of Char had an air of festivity. The senior Broodmothers, having grown used to meeting on Char at incremental times, all had things to say and do which they'd prepared in advance. They tended to break off in groups of two or three, speaking in person with one another in the hours leading up to the big meeting with everyone and the Overqueen. Nearly all of the senior Broodmothers traveled in a Leviathan, and these massive creatures crowded the airspace in the valley around the main Hive Cluster.

In addition, the Crown Princess had created another new Zerg breed, with partial credit given to Abathur. It would be demonstrated at a piece of open land surrounded by elevated hills. The Overqueen attended the demonstration, as well as about a dozen Senior Broodmothers, along with a large number of lesser Queens.

It was in the arena-like clearing, along with an Ultralisk. The new Breed looked like a giant, scaly rodent, whose body could freely extend and recede. It walked on four legs, and could stand up on two feet easily. It was anatomically similar to a rabbit, and only a third the size of the Ultralisk.

Saraslha was there, in control of the Ultralisk. And Rindell in control of the new Breed. "Place your bets, ladies!" Saraslha announced. "These two are gonna have them a fight." The New Breed was instinctively snapping its head to different positions, checking its surroundings with a pair of big, beady eyes as it stood tall on its hind feet.

Naturally, the betting favorite was the Ultralisk. The new Breed looked nimble and flexible, but ultimately it would cave to the Ultralisk's superior size, armor and weaponry.

The bets came in, the bell rang, and Rindell had the new Breed spray the Ultralisk with a high-pressure jet of liquid. Its mouth contained a hardened bone hose end, which the liquid came out of in an extremely pressurized state. Its rodent body receded and bent down to accommodate the liquid exiting its body.

The Ultralisk was frozen solid. Ice crystallized around its front legs and head as the sprayed liquid expanded, regaining its original gaseous volume a hundred times that of its liquid state. It continued hitting the Ultralisk with brief, high-pressure spurts of the freezing compound, picking specific joints and impairing its movement.

The Ultralisk was resistant to cold, and tried to break the ice formed around its joints as it inched closer to the new Breed. But it continued to be hit with freezing shots. Once it got close, the new Breed ran past it to the other side of the fighting space on all fours, and then got on its hind legs again to continue blasting the Ultralisk, who could not move fast enough to reach the creature and strike it with its tusks.

Soon, the Ultralisk was frozen solid, rendered completely helpless.

"Ladies and Gentleman," Stukov spectated this demonstration as well. "I present to you: The Cryolisk." The Cryolisk remained semi-sat on its hind legs, darting its rodent head to peer in different directions. It nose twitched a lot. It was ordered to climb atop the frozen Ultralisk, which it did. "Its next opponent: a squad of Mutalisks."

Six Mutalisks under Saraslha's control flew by, making low passes over the fighting space. They targeted the Cryolisk.

With near-perfect accuracy, the rodent-like creature shot each Mutalisk one by one. The brief jets of liquid froze them, impairing their flight ability and causing them to crash into the ground and break or crack on impact. A few of them got shots in at the Cryolisk, and it was wounded. But it survived as the six Mutalisks were efficiently destroyed.

The psionic voices of all in attendance were either speechless or amazed. The creature was a third the mass of the Ultralisk, and therefore a third of its mineral cost. And it had defeated it, and then showed itself to be an effective anti-aircraft combatant. The Ultralisk was still alive, and slowly was able to move again as it thawed. But the fight was off, and Saraslha ordered it out of the arena once it could walk.

"The Cryolisk may be considered my gift to the Swarm." The Crown Princess announced. "The glands that produce its freezing compound entail a large Vespene cost, but you've all seen what you'll get for it. You may all take and use its essence as you please."

The group disbanded, the demonstration over. The Cryolisk essence would be available from Abathur, who had set up a much larger work area inside the main Hive Cluster. He no longer operated out of the Queen of Blades' former Leviathan.

Saraslha and Zagara walked together as everyone went their own way. The main summit would be in about an hour. _"Your inventiveness shows itself once again, daughter. You are an insurmountable asset to the Swarm."_

"Abathur had a lot of input on fine details. He improved its eyes, muscle structure, and predictive aiming. I just copy-pasted the Hydralisks aiming; he put together an all new system that works better for liquid jets."

" _But he would never have considered using scientific knowledge to produce a freezing attack. You and he work well together."_

She nodded at this, agreeing. "He doesn't call me engineered obsolescence anymore."

" _Abathur has an odd way of coming to respect others. I think he respects you now."_

"So what kind of stuff is going to come up during the Summit?"

" _Resource and territorial matters. I also address the grievances of our Broodmothers on planets close to Dominion Space. I wish to hear what all of my Broodmothers have to say, and the Summit is a chance for any of them to say it to me. Anything could come up, really."_

"We're also going to visit Korhal in about a week. You're bringing me along this time."

" _That is correct. The Terrans' Emperor is a young prodigy, much like you. I think you'll like him."_

"I also learned on the interweb that he's attractive, and single." She had a big grin.

" _Right. You've expressed interest in finding a mate. I don't think the Terran Emperor is available in that manner."_

"I know…" Her tone was lighthearted, and she was fidgeting. "When we go to Korhal, I'll get to meet a lot of new people. And I'll get to see Izsha again. I'm looking forward to it."

Zagara's tone was gentle, and had a restrained joy. _"Do you think you'll find someone to be your husband?"_

She just shrugged at this. "I want to find someone before becoming overqueen. Because afterward it will become a lot harder." She had a worried frown. "Would the Swarm be alright with that? With my being close in that way to a Terran?"

" _The Queen of Blades represents the apex of our existence. And the man by her side is Terran. There would be no objections to our ruler having something similar."_

"Yeah, but James Raynor is a Hero of the End War, like you, mother. He's a cut above the average being, regardless of race."

" _He did not need to be; our Queen of Blades loved that man deeply, and still does. And the Swarm served her interest in saving him when the need arose. Hers was the will of the Swarm, and there was no objection."_

"Yeah… you're right, I guess." They walked together along a trail in the valley around the mesa hosting the main Hive Cluster. There were winds in the ground and lava pits to their sides.

" _I want you to be happy, Saraslha."_

She hugged her around her waist as they continued walking. "I am happy, mother. Especially when I'm talking to you."

They reached a rise in the trail, overlooking an expanse of scorched landscape natural to Char. _"I do not know the future, Saraslha. What will become of our race."_ They stood straight, next to each other and overlooking the landscape.

"Under you, it's going to kick some serious hiney."

" _Then I hesitate to fathom what it will do under you, daughter."_

"Yeah… we'll see, won't we?"

" _Yes,"_ Zagara crossed her arms, not touching or looking toward her daughter as they stood together. _"We will indeed see."_

* * *

 ** _This concludes part I. What follows is the second arc of this story, which is incomplete and a work in progress. I am extremely unsure as to when it will be completed, so you're free to consider this the conclusion and have closure. Read ahead at your own risk._**


	7. Enter the Terrans

**Part II: The Conquest of Design**

He awoke alone atop a messed up, tangled bedding. As he slowly, sluggishly inched toward consciousness, he could see rotating fan blades above on the ceiling, blowing air down on his mostly exposed body. When he fell asleep the breeze had been pleasant, but now it made him feel uncomfortably cool. "Machines…" He ran a hand over his face, his eyes going back to being shut as he remarked on the fan which had spun consistently all night. "They don't give a hoot. That's their majesty, as well as their decisive limitation."

The room he occupied was an apartment. In typical Terran urban architecture, it was mostly metallic with visible welds and a large, draped window near his bed. Tubes containing electric wiring, as well as the copper pipe plumbing for the room above him made no secret of their presence as they ran along the ceiling, out of the way but very much visible.

Feeling drowsy, and with a mild headache, he got on his feet, threw on a bath robe, and shuffled out into his kitchen, leaving the bed tangled and unmade.

As he walked to the fridge, he picked up a remote and turned on the television across the room. _"Once an enemy in a number of destructive conflicts, the Zerg Swarm has thus far maintained a non-aggression agreement with the Terran Dominion."_ The channel had been left on UNN. The report being made was a re-run of one made last night which he didn't watch. He listened as he opened the fridge. _"The Emperor's administration wishes to open new avenues of diplomacy with their leadership, to prevent another war from occurring in the future."_

"Play cards with the Devil, rather than fighting her with cudgels and blades." He had a pan and carton of eggs out as he peered across the room at the TV. "The sound mind will choose the former." He went to the simple task of frying eggs.

 _"_ _Now, it has recently been learned that the fearsome Zerg Overqueen has a daughter; the Crown Princess Saraslha. Furthermore: This future leader of the Zerg Swarm will be visiting Korhal in the coming weeks."_

His head snapped to look directly at the television across the room. What he heard felt like something out of a storybook, or campy film. This surprise was surmounted by the image they had of her displayed on screen. She looked like a Terran, but with areas of carapace in the outer features of her face, thick nerve cords in place of hair, and eyes that were a glowing blue mono color, with thin black lines dividing her irises and pupils. She didn't look at all monstrous or animalistic like other Zerg, but youthful; very much like a human in her mid-teens.

"Who isn't going to play cards with that Devil?" he said aloud, going back to cooking breakfast. "Perhaps the time of cudgels and blades with the Zerg has passed."

The News story moved to pundits and another Anchor as they discussed this development. He ignored the sound of the television as he finished preparing his plain omelet, setting it on a plate and turning off the burner. With the plate, he walked around to the end of a small bar on the other side of the stove counter.

 _"_ _It was this very person who cleared the renegades on Sephulli, allowing the Dominion's newest colony to settle there."_

The apartment felt chilly, so he set the plate on the counter in front of one of the stools and went over to a wall-mounted heater.

When he toyed with the needlessly convoluted controls of the heater, a reserve of hot air was released down into the floor. This blast of pre-heated air hit and burned his bare foot.

He involuntarily exclaimed through clenched teeth, now glaring back at the fickle appliance as he limped away. "You're a cruel mistress, machinery…" On the up side, it quickly began feeling warmer in the room.

As if to compound his annoyances in the moment, the phone began to ring. He had to limp through the kitchen, past the sink which offered cold water, and lean over to the charger-mounted phone to press answer and set it to speaker phone.

 _"_ _Heey Keid…"_ the voice on the other end had an exaggerated friendliness. _"How you doing? You feeling all rested and chipper this morning?"_

Keid's burned foot had been lifted into the kitchen sink as the tap was opened to pour cold water on the scalded skin. The relief was immediate. "I'm eating, Francis," he said, looking over at his omelet, which was out of reach. Francis was part of the night shift at the place he worked. He didn't remember giving him his number.

Francis became defensive, _"Were you drinking last night?"_

"Yes." He answered plainly.

 _"_ _Well how are you doing right now?" A pause, "…Think you're up for doing stuff with your day?"_

He knew that Francis wanted something, and it annoyed the ever-living hell out of Keid that he was beating around the bush. "Relax, Francis," he said with as polite a tone as he could muster as the cold water of the sink ran down his foot. "I'm not going to reach through the phone and bite you. What do you want?"

 _"_ _Why is your tap on? And your TV?"_

If he pulled his foot from the tap water to get the remote and mute the television, the burning pain would immediately act up again. He wasn't going to go through that just so Francis could him better. "They stay on. My question, now."

 _"_ _I need you to come in today."_

"I have today off."

 _"_ _I know that—"_

"Okay, great. You know. That settles the matter, yes?"

 _"_ _It's about the Specimen. You designed the containment system, and something's come up."_

Keid's eyes shut, and he groaned silently. "I left instructions. If adjustments need to be made to the Container:" He recited in quick, technical speak, "In the physical, the Specimen's motion strength is directly correlated to the mass in each appendage. Apply the Larkhill Algorithm."

 _"_ _Yes, I know but—"_

"In the Psionic, it's just a simple outcropping sphere. Don't tamper with any of the dials, and there won't be any problems."

 _"_ _We're moving it today, Keid."_

His brow relaxed at this, "Oh…"

 _"_ _The order came directly down from the Big Man: we're having it moved, and he wants you here to oversee the moving. I don't feel I need to tell you what might happen if the containment unit is compromised."_

He suddenly understood why he needed to come in. Moving the containment cell might produce complications, and he knew how it worked better than anyone. "Alright, I'll be right over."

 _"_ _Thank you!"_ Francis' tone was sarcastic. _"What's it take to make you comply without acting like an ass?"_

Open with 'we're moving the Specimen today' not 'how are you doing,' Keid thought this to himself. "Goodbye, Francis." Was all he said aloud.

 _"_ _Goodbye,"_ he hung up.

Keid's foot was removed from under the tap. He turned off the television. Within a minute of hastily dressing, fixing his hair a bit and slipping on shoes, he was out of the apartment door.

Once outside the door, he checked both directions in the hallway, and felt the space between his white coat and black turtleneck. Inside the inside coat pocket was his ID card, a concealed carry permit, and a loaded pistol, which he drew and then took out the magazine, checking its ammunition before sliding it back into the slot inside the hilt. He had an almost wild look in his eyes as he checked his gun. He didn't always live in the relative safety of Korhal, and old habits die hard. He didn't intend to use it, but felt a certain, selective nakedness without it.

"I gotta deal with all this crap…" he muttered to himself as he re-holstered the gun under his coat and headed for the elevator. He was one of the only people at the facility he worked with his skill set, and his days off were few and far between.

* * *

"Why would Terrans do this? I'm genuinely curious." Saraslha had her back to everyone, facing a mirror.

"They wear clothes to keep warm, and not get arrested." Stukov answered from a far wall. "You can't go to Korhal nude."

"I have a carapace…" her head shrank down a little.

"Relax, little one. It will human you up, and make you cuter."

She turned her head to look at him. "Are you suggesting that's even possible?" She had a joking grin.

 _"_ _Please, do not shift yourself, my Princess."_ Rindell was carefully tailoring the dress around Saraslha's body. Her turning disturbed this process. Rindell did not have thumbs, and had to use a lot of easy, natural telekinesis.

"Right, sorry." She went back to the original posture, her arms extended out. She managed to notice in the mirror that she'd grown a bit taller since the mission on Sephulli, and smiled to herself at this fact. Her thick hair-cords had lengthened a bit as well.

Rindell finished seaming and hemming the knee-length dress, and then turned and went to pick up something new.

Saraslha looked her way, "When'd you become a tailor, Rindell?"

 _"_ _Last night, when it was discovered you would require one."_

She could only smile fondly at this with Rindell's back still turned. It was hard to imagine that Rindell once hated her, and wanted to kill her. Zerg… are remarkable creatures, she thought.

Saraslha's carapace was similar to what would be found on the upper body of a Broodmother. The majority of her Zerg half was of that essence; it determined her hair cords, her outer carapace, and her claws.

Her arms were still bare, and Rindell's next item was a pair of loose sleeves that started just past her shoulders. Once they were tied, Saraslha brought her hand in front of her. The sleeve continually hung a bit further down the closer it got to her wrist, ending at that point. Half her shoulders and the upper area of her upper arms remained bare. She appraised her whole self in the mirror. The garment was a dark, saturated purple with intricate embroidery of a slightly lighter purple.

 _"_ _Do you like it, my Princess?"_

A smile broke into her face. "I don't know what, Rindell, but… some part of my non conscious mind is really pleased." When she hung her arms naturally, the widening sleeves concealed the precise posture of her elbows and forearms.

Rindell began work on her hair, lifting up each thick cord one by one and arranging them meticulously.

"There's no need for that right now, right? The visit's in about a week."

 _"_ _Ah, you're right."_ She took her hands away.

Saraslha had a light smile, lifting her eyebrows. "The Terrans' consumer market has these toys that you can dress up and fix their hair as you please. When we're on Korhal, you can get some."

Rindell tipped her head sideways at this. "I… I'd like that." Her fingers were fidgeting anxiously at not getting to fix her hair cords.

"I'm just gonna mess them up again." Saraslha explained to her. "A lot happens between now and a week from now. Speaking of which," she spread her arms. "Now that we know I look good in this, would you kindly take it off? Put it somewhere it won't get dirty."

 _"_ _Of course."_ Rindell got to this task.

Stukov spoke up while Saraslha was being undressed. "You're aware that your mother decided not to go, yes? You'll be representing our species all by your lonesome."

"I know. I asked her to let me do it on my own. I can't learn every little thing from under her wing. Besides, Rindell is coming."

"Yes, as the head of your bodyguards. She's not going to be talking to anybody."

"You're coming too, Stukov."

"What," he chuckled at this. "What makes you think I'll say yes to that?"

"That's not a no…" She was smirking as she looked back at him, holding still to allow Rindell to get the dress off.

He was shaking his head. "I look like a monstrosity; half human, half Zerg."

"So do I. Believe me: If we have good relations with these people, it won't be because we look similar to them."

"The answer is no."

Rindell got the sleeves, and then the dress off, opening its form to allow Saraslha to step out. "My offer stands, Alexei." She said as she turned and walked past him. "Let me know by the end of the week if you decide." She walked out of the room before Stukov could retort, the biological door closing behind her.

He turned to Rindell, who was folding the outfit and storing it in a case-like metal box. "She… has been acting this way a lot, lately."

Rindell was visibly indifferent as she closed the case and locked it. _"The Princess has a combat match next on her schedule. Broodmother Gwendys has challenged her place as the next Overqueen."_

"That's the third time it's happened." Stukov remarked, "Since Zagara made it official in the Summit a week ago."

 _"_ _They are blindly unaware of their mediocrity."_ Rindell said. _"They only know how to outnumber their foe."_

"These matches have no population limit, correct? And the challenger can use all of the same breeds, including those which the little one invented."

 _"_ _Indeed, and the Princess still wins easily. She is the strongest Zerg, second to the Overqueen."_

Stukov had a half-smile. "You went through the same experience, did you not, Rindell?"

 _"_ _I did, and that's why I understand: To have the Swarm's allegiance, Saraslha must fight these matches. She is giving them proof which they require. Proof in experience."_ With the box under her arm, she headed toward the door.

* * *

Thousands of kilograms of Zerg biomass marched relentlessly across a broad pass between two elevations of land on Char's terrain. The pass was hardly a chokepoint; it was broad enough that the only narrowing of the army's formation occurred naturally, on account of their forward motion. Their destination took them to an upward rise on the ground, at the end of the pass.

On the opposing side, an array of Pyrolisks fired their flammable jets of liquid into the ground ahead of them. Each created its own circular flame, which overlapped each other. The flames were consistently maintained by the Pyrolisks feeding them, shooting their liquid in a circling jet.

The advancing force was forced into a bottleneck by these two walls of fire, which angled away from them, and left a reasonably wide opening between each wall, in the center. They flowed through this opening, slowed but unimpeded.

And then Ultralisks, along with a huge number of Roaches and Hydralisks came out of burrowing and struck the force past the flame wall from the front, left flank and right flank. This encirclement everywhere except the rear, and deadly combination of close-range, medium-range and long-range attacks produced what was effectively a meat grinder. The attacking force took tremendous losses, while the defenders lost almost nothing.

The attackers decided to push directly through the flame walls. It would deal considerable attrition damage, but now it had become worth it. Their numbers were superior, and they needed only exert them on the enemy.

As the attackers penetrated the flame walls, the Pyrolisks abandoned fueling their individual plots of fire, and instead all began hosing out of every pore at once. The pressure was distributed and weak, like a yard sprinkler. But each had surrounded itself with a rising ring of fire coming out of the ground around it. The attackers set upon the Pyrolisks, whose only weapon was their chemical flame. Even more damage was dealt to the attackers, the Pyrolisks having too tight a formation for them to simply maneuver around.

But Zerg were resilient, relentless creatures. Nearly all of the Pyrolisks were killed, but each had taken its toll on the attackers as the end of the pass was littered with charred, disintegrated corpses.

It became a two-way brawl, between the attacking force and the defenders at the now fading fire bottleneck. The attackers came with superior numbers, and with the firewall gone they could surround the defenders. But their losses and injuries from the firewall tactic were too great. The battle was a stalemate, as the defenders were ground down to a token number, and the same happened to the attackers, whom originally outnumbered their enemy 2.5 to 1.

Saraslha's Brood was the defending side, and she observed this battle from the command post that was one of her random Overlords patrolling over her territory. That attacking force was nearly all of Broodmother Gwendys' standing army.

And back during her mission on Sephulli, just over 200 days ago, the defending force would have been everything Saraslha could control at a given time. But her body, brain, and psionic cords had grown since then. Another army, kept secret from Gwendys was held in secret. They were ordered to come out of hiding and strike her resource clusters, cutting off her income. This force proceed to tear apart the holdings and token reserve forces of Gwendys' now helpless Brood. Saraslha's Overlords flew freely over the battlefield, scanning for remaining pockets of resistance.

 _"_ _Stop! I surrender."_ Came the punctual message from Broodmother Gwendys.

At this, Saraslha had her Overlord fly her to what remained of Gwendys' main Hive Cluster. She disembarked from the Overlord, landing in front of Gwendys. Saraslha's Brood was all around them, and the situation in hand. "Let's hear it." Saraslha said, her arms crossed.

Gwendys' head was lowered. _"I acknowledge you as the Crown Princess. Upon the Overqueen's death or retirement, it is you who will rule the Swarm."_ Saraslha audibly walked closer, causing Gwendys' head to lower further.

Saraslha reached over and picked up her hand, holding it raised and tightly in front of them both. She had a determined smile. "You fought well, Gwendys." Gwendys' head raised, and her eyes relaxed as Saraslha continued: "Let us work together for the betterment, the prosperity, and triumph of the Swarm. You from your station, and I from mine."

An overwhelmed Gwendys lowered her head again. _"I… am not worthy. Not of your trust, nor of vassalage under you."_

Saraslha let her hand slip out as she half-turned, looking at Gwendys with a sideways gaze. "I leave it to you… to do something about that."

Gwendys' posture relaxed as she leaned back her upper body, setting one hand atop the other in front of her chest. "Very well… _It will be as you command, Crown Princess."_

She nodded at this as she turned to leave. "I'm allowing you to continue living, Broodmother Gwendys. You may return to your Hive Cluster."

This was a routine task which Saraslha had performed. One week ago, her mother declared in front of everyone that Saraslha would be the next Overqueen; that it was a done deal and decided. Gwendys had been the third challenger against her claim in the week since that declaration.

Saraslha did not feel burdened in the least by this. She trusted her mother, and always loved her in a scope that had recently been vindicated. Being the next ruler of the Swarm? To her this route in her life felt like accomplishing every goal she currently had in a single stone.

* * *

Augustgrad, the Capital City of Korhal and of the Terran Dominion was constantly bustling and filled with activity; the city never slept. Even when the planet's rotation brought the city to the night side, it remained lit and bright and visible.

The city was just coming to the day-side as Keid drove out of the city limits where the land value was lower, the buildings shorter and sparser, and all roads were on the ground level with no elevations or highways. The vast majority of people in the city relied on mass transportation; trains and buses. Keid drove a car.

He came to a large parking lot next to a rectangular structure not quite as tall as the buildings in the city, but whose sheer, outward volume was titanic. The interior of the structure was an outdoor area all its own.

As he walked across the asphalt lot past rows of cars, he had dark bags under his eyes, and held a steaming paper cup of coffee picked up from a drive-thru café. With a free hand, he reached under his coat and took out an ID card.

He reached the door, swiped the card and then lowered his face into the retinal scanner. The scanner took a snapshot of his entire face, which was always shown to him. He was young, in its early twenties at most, with messy, unkempt raven hair and a clean-shaven face.

A green light flashed above the door. _"Retinal scan cleared. Good morning, Doctor Marchen."_ The electronic voice was male, with a crisp, but gentle and unassuming tone.

"Morning, Letty." He replied as he went through the door. Letty was the facility's Virtual Intelligence. When its creator, their head of IT was asked what his acronym was, she replied that he didn't have one; she just liked the name Letty.

The inside of the building was clean, and vividly lit. A mixture of metal and glass that was built in multiple tiers, and surrounding a vast number of open-floored areas from which the steel-framed ceiling was visible over everything as though an artificial sky. The place ran around the clock, and there were staff everywhere. Some wore white coats, others wore blue jumpsuits, and they all had somewhere to go; something to do.

"Doctor Marchen!" The voice came from someone approaching from the side. It was female, and as high pitched as it was fast-paced. "I'm so glad you're here today."

Keid Marchen groaned silently as he sipped his coffee and continued his forward walk, letting her catch up. "Yes, what can I do for you, Miss Bellum?"

She was a head shorter than him, and also wore a white coat. This geeky aesthetic was completed by a pair of round spectacles. "I was just wondering if you could review this data dump." She walked beside right behind him, holding up a clipboard. "The Specimen has changed its kinetic exertion patterns, and psionic emphases. We cycled neurosedatives class B, D, and R, and then ran a data dump on all the Containment systems, and since you're here you can—"

He held a hand out. "Let me see it."

She handed him the clipboard, and his eyes rapidly skimmed over the printed papers; equations, measurements, text lines printed out by a computer's OS. As they walked together in silence through an equally crowded corridor, he flipped to the next page with one hand by tipping the whole clipboard, drinking coffee with his other hand. He remained silent, saving his words until he reached the end of the data dump. It was thirteen pages.

"I…" Bellum was tapping her fingertips together anxiously. "Why does the cell even have dynamic adjustment mechanisms? Wouldn't a solid-state holding structure be more realistic?"

He shook his head. "Do you know what our history is, in regard to imprisoning Ultralisks? Keeping live specimens of them? Humans in general, I mean."

"The Subject isn't an Ultralisk. I don't even think it's Zerg."

"It's the same principle." He said as they emerged to an open floor and walked in a straight beeline past its people and equipment. "The Ultralisk will know—automatically know, the weakest point in its restraints, and it will begin building its muscles that run against that weakest point. It will adapt, and build, and condense, and build more, until that part of its body is stronger than the restraint holding it back. Ninety percent of Ultralisks kept as live specimens break free within the first month of imprisonment. Thus the recent popularity in purging measures; planting a small bomb in the damn thing's brain or something."

"Or blasting it with a Yamato Cannon!" The young woman was grinning at the idea.

He looked over at her quizzically. "Bellum, that's insane." A Yamato blast would kill everybody in the same room from the heat alone.

"Yeah, but it'd be cool."

"Clear out your bug infestation with a well-placed Spider Mine…" He was shaking his head.

"Oh, yeah, like my Aunt Mindy." She was nodding, "she didn't take any crap from no cockroaches. Showed 'em where to go, she did."

He had no words. Keid handed the clipboard back to Bellum, finished with it. "The containment is stable."

"Okay, that's that covered. We've also garnered a lot of new data from the tissue samples-"

"Please, Miss Bellum…" he was rubbing his forehead with his newly freed hand. "One thing at a time. I have to think of a way to move the Specimen safely, container and all. You guys can handle tissue samples on your own."

She shrugged. "If you say so. By the way…"

"What?"

"Mister Kuraski is here, and he wants to speak with you. He's on the catwalk overlooking the floor with the containment cell."

Kuraski was the CEO of Gentek Corporation, which owned the laboratory/workshop they were in, as well as everybody in it. "You go on ahead then, let everyone know it's stable. I'll take the high road, and see what the Big Man wants."

"Right…" She moved briskly past him, hunching her shoulders. She was under the impression that he might be in trouble.

The space he walked through, now alone, was a chemistry lab. The far wall was lined with glass-doored refrigerators containing sample jars. And there was a large expanse of tables with sinks, testing apparatus and computer screens. His foot still stung from scalded skin as he looked at the sinks with longing. This was not his department.

There was a tall corridor ahead, with a bridge crossing over it one story above. He went to an elevator door in the wall to the left of this pass.

Once on the upper floor, he went around, walking along a pass overlooking the ground floor. He reached the balcony overlooking another large open space; his work area. Leaning over the railing was a man whose back was to Keid. He was tall, and wore a raven black suit that seemed to suck the light from the space near it. His relaxed posture betrayed deliberation; an appearance of relaxation as if to spite any voice that would claim he was always controlled.

Keid walked right up to this man, and then leaned back against the railing next to him, looking at his face. Keid always thought of himself as tall, but this man had a number of centimeters on him. The suited man was middle-aged, with a dark face whose rigid features and gaunt shape clashed perfectly with a bald head.

Neither of them spoke, and the man continued staring ahead, obviously noticing Keid but not looking toward him.

Keid decided to speak first. "So…" he looked down at the floor, working with the information he had. "Where to?"

The man's eyes looked toward him.

He made eye contact. "You want the Specimen moved. Where?"

"That's what I like about you, Mister Marchen." He looked ahead again, his eyes alight. "You don't waste time."

Keid crossed his arms, looking ahead in the opposite direction from the other man. "If it's being moved off world, I'll need six days, my entire crew for the duration, and a Hercules-class freighter."

"Elsewhere on Korhal." He explained simply.

Keid nodded at this. "Fourty Eight hours, and the same assets."

"You have seven standard days to move the Specimen to our compound atop the Grey Mesa. Talk to my requisitions department for what you need."

Keid analyzed this scenario rapidly. "The compound there is powered by its own fusion core, to keep it hidden off the power grid. It will more than supply for the Container's power needs." Many areas of Korhal were left as scorching desert. The Grey Mesa was at the heart of one of these deserts.

"I am pleased to hear this."

"It also means I'll have to head out to the Grey Mesa regularly to check on its status. Containing a creature like the Specimen, in a fully-awakened state, is not the simplest thing in the world."

"You really must find somebody who can do that job; train them, dig them up. Be creative, but get your self out of this rut that consumes your time."

"I probably already have someone like that." Keid answered. "And if I set them up with monitoring the Container, chances are it would go fine, no incidents. But on the other hand… I have this feeling."

"What feeling is this?" The man asked, his tone and expression detached.

"When you leave something in the hands of somebody else, this feeling tells you that you're setting it up to fail."

The man laughed slightly at this through a closed mouth. "I know this feeling, actually. Nonetheless, you must learn delegation as I have. A brain like yours is wasted on…" He raised a hand, indicating the Containment Cell on the floor below. "Ground already covered."

"Alright…" Keid analyzed the man's words closely, appearing relaxed as he did so. "The tissue samples must have shown some really promising prospects. You want me over there, rather than over here."

"Precisely, Mister Marchen."

"It shouldn't be too hard. We're the first humans who aren't psychotic cultists, or led by them to actually have one of these things."

"Its promise is insurmountable; breakthroughs in energy, metallurgy, medical science. We could extend the human lifespan by a hundred years, perhaps even more."

Keid stood straight from the railing. "I'm off to move the thing, then." He walked off. The man did not say anything further.

As Keid headed for a lift to the ground floor, he noted, vividly that the deadline of one week coincided almost precisely with the visit of the Zerg Crown Princess to Korhal. Correlation did not equal causation. But still, he could not shake the feeling; the paranoia, that there was a connection.

He came to the ground floor of his work area, and was in front of the Specimen Container. It was an imposing, monolith box made of pure black metal whose only distinctions were the seams in which the plates locked together. There were places where thick energy cables ran along the floor and plugged into the giant box. They looked like patches; discoloring blemishes on its gleaming black form.

"Keid." Someone came up to him. "What'd Mister Kuraski have to say?"

"Relax, Francis. We're not in any kind of trouble." He didn't take his eyes off the Container.

Francis looked back at the above platform. Keid knew that Kuraski was no longer there.

"I need you to get on the horn with the ceiling control room." Keid was now looking upward, at sets of extremely thick metal rails near the ceiling which had their own supports and did not actually touch the ceiling itself.

"So we're using the gantry crane, then?" Francis said, now looking at the same thing. "That's not going to get it out the door."

"Just to lift it." Keid began talking in rapid speak. "Suspend in the air, weld together wheel bed and roll under container. Same for power generators; accompany Container."

Francis had a notepad out and was jotting this down. "This building doesn't have a welding shop."

"GenTek East, Metallurgy testing, has welding shop. Contact through requisition office."

"Got it."

"Also requisition for Hercules class freighter. Landing pad Four."

Francis flipped up to a new page, still writing quickly. "You're sure about airlifting? The Grey Mesa compound has a freight elevator that can handle the Container."

"I'm sure. The wheel bed will also need suspension; adjustment piston on each wheel; regulator controls."

"Well, that doesn't complicate the shit out of it…" He continued writing this down. "They'll need to know the weight and volume of the container, so they know how to put together the wheel bed."

"Power generators, and control console must accompany."

"We'll get those on some big trolleys from Storage. Give the crew something to do while they're putting together our wheel bed."

Keid nodded at this. "That's all for now." Francis turned and left to go through the list he just made. Keid remained staring at the Container. He knew exactly what was inside; its nature, its power, its danger. "If the mind is keen enough, creative enough, and disciplined enough to its own rule of law…" He raised a hand, peering past his fingers. "It need not fear the strength of a thousand suns." Powerful as the Specimen was, escaping this Containment Cell would be impossible. Even if he couldn't prove this to other people, he knew it was true.

* * *

 **Seven Days Later**

Admiral Horner was aboard his flagship, along with a strike fleet of 9 other Capital Ships and 40 tactical fighters. They idled in deep space next to a stationary, unmanned signal relay station. There were no inhabited planets in the system. He could have brought a much larger force if he chose, but it wasn't necessary.

They had reached this spot nearly an hour ago, and were idle.

A Zerg Leviathan came out of Warp Space very close to the Terran fleet's formation. "Zerg biomass detected." The sensor operator on his bridge reported, per protocol in spite of the gargantuan creature being close enough to be visible to the naked eye.

"Establish contact." The Admiral ordered. "Lock onto the creature's communication wavelength."

"…Done." The comms officer reported. "You're on speaker now, Sir."

Admiral Horner composed his posture, as he always did even if he wasn't visible to the other person. "This is Admiral Horner of the Dominion Armada, addressing the Zerg vessel. Identify yourselves."

 _"_ _Matthew Horner!"_ The voice from the Leviathan was being broadcast on the bridge's loudspeakers. It sounded like an energetic teenage girl. _"Have I read a lot about you! You were Raynor's guy. And now you're the Emperor's guy in much the same way. Ya just like to be… somebody's guy, don't you? Kind of like Rindell."_

The Admiral maintained his formality in spite of the voice's attempts at small talk. "Would this be Princess Saraslha I've the distinction of speaking to?"

 _"_ _That's the gal. I followed the coordinates you sent. But the only life here is us. Where's Korhal?"_

"I'm afraid the rest of your transit to our Throne World must be made aboard a Terran vessel."

 _"_ _You want me to come aboard your ship… Can my bodyguard come?"_

"Bring whatever entourage you see fit. It is simply that the presence of a Leviathan in a heavily populated place…"

 _"_ _No, no, I get it. Old wounds. Which hangar?"_ A Nydus Worm had come out of the Leviathan, and was coming near Horner's flagship.

Horner was visibly surprised at how easy it was to explain this arrangement. "Hangar Two has been emptied for you."

The head of the Nydus Worm let itself into Hangar Two, coming through its atmospheric barrier. It regurgitated a large amount of Zerg. Matt Horner went to a console being manned by an operator, and saw over the Operator's shoulder the surveillance camera footage in Hangar 2. There were a number of Zerg combat breeds. Several of them were of a classification he didn't recognize. One which looked like large tortoises, and others that brought to mind an image of a giant rabbit or prairie dog.

At the center of the hangar was a Broodmother, and a humanoid figure concealed head to foot in a hooded velvet cloak. The Broodmother took the cloak off the humanoid and folded it to hang over her arm.

The humanoid looked like a teenage girl. Her wearing a dress and detached arm sleeves of the same color and texture as the cloak almost gave the impression of being human. But a few more seconds of looking, and it became clear: Her hair was comprised of thick cords, and the skin below her neck and at the extremities of her face was covered with a Swarm Queen-like carapace. Even from the distant ceiling corner vantage point of the camera, her Zerg features were apparent. She walked toward one of the doors leading out of the hangar.

Admiral Horner took a breath as he turned away from the console and checked his wristwatch. When the Emperor asked him to receive the Zerg Delegate, he only learned later on that it would be the Crown Princess. He'd read the reports, and knew that it was she who defeated the Cerebrate on Sephulli. Now that he heard her voice and demeanor, and saw what she looked like, he had the sense that anything could happen, and this made him nervous.

"You're getting all sweaty, Admiral." Said a man who was his adjutant, and the Captain of his flagship.

"I'm fine." He said, checking his watch again and re-composing his posture. "I suppose I should go down and greet her." He walked to the powered door leading off the Bridge.

Right when he reached the door, it opened for someone on the other side and he stepped aside to avoid the chance of running right into them.

The person who came in was Saraslha. She walked past Horner not noticing him, and observed the ship's bridge, slowing her rapid walk to a stop. She was a full head shorter than Matt Horner.

Horner was visibly surprised by this. He wondered how she could just walk right up to the bridge without anybody stopping her. Perhaps because she moved naturally, like she belonged and was expected. "Ah… excuse me."

She turned and saw him. There was a huge smile on her face. "I've never been on one of these operational. All the ones crashed on Char are angled…" Her hand was raised and tilted. "And dark."

Horner decided to just roll with it. He didn't intend to tell her she had to stay in the hangar anyway. "Please… just don't touch anything, Princess Saraslha."

"Where's the button?" She said suddenly.

He frowned. "What button?"

"The Yamato Cannon button. Where?"

"If I tell you…"

"You wanna press it, don't ya?" Matt's Adjutant said.

"Yeah…" Saraslha looked at him now, an excited grin on her face.

Admiral Horner couldn't believe this. The future ruler of the Zerg was a child. He started rubbing his forehead. "We're not firing the main cannon without a reason."

Saraslha suddenly looked meek, her face down as she looked up at Horner with beady eyes. "My amusement is a reason…" Her tone was quiet and pitiable.

"Come on, Admiral. It'd mean so much to her." The Captain took her side, lifting his eyebrows.

Matt Horner groaned, frowning as he rubbed his forehead harder…

 **3 Minutes Later**

"Yaaaaay!" Saraslha pressed the big button on the weapons console. The operator was leaning to the side in his chair, making room for her. She then ran over to stand next to the viewing window, from which the length of the ship ahead was visible and she saw the cannon charge. it fired from the front end of the sizable ship.

By total accident, and no attempt at targeting by the ship's crew, the blast of superheated particles hit the Leviathan on the side, causing it to wriggle in sudden and involuntary motions of pain. It was pure dumb-firing, but it managed to hit something.

"Aww, shit!" The Leviathan launched waves of Scourges; an instinctive threat response.

"All units, stand down!" Admiral Horner broadcast this order to all ships. "Saraslha, call the thing off."

She did this, giving a mental command that caused the Leviathan to withdraw its Scourges. It calmed as it resumed an idle posture floating in space. There was a large burn wound where the Yamato blast struck it. The situation had been quickly disarmed.

Matt Horner came up behind Saraslha, who was still standing at the viewing spot of the bridge window. His teeth were clenched; angry at the incident that almost happened. The lives of his men had been put in danger. "I hope you've learned something from this, Saraslha." His voice was low, and carried an anger which he tried to contain. "You put—"

"That Leviathan…" She cut him off, her back still to him. "Was... is, my loyal servant." She inhaled with breaks in her voice as she looked down at her own palm. "And I… I hurt it!" She was sobbing, trying to restrain herself but failing as she gripped around her eyes with her hand.

Matt Horner was disarmed by this. The emotion she displayed was exactly how he'd feel if he hurt one of his own people, even by accident. The times people under him died, and he wondered how it could have gone differently. He was being selfish, he realized. Saraslha was a Zerg, not a Terran. It was only natural she care about her own people first. And she did care. One of her people had actually, physically gotten hurt by this.

Saraslha muttered under her breath, "I'm so sorry… so sorry, so sorry…" He realized that she was saying this to her Leviathan psionically, and it slipped a bit into her vocal voice. He misjudged her; she had taken full ownership of what happened.

If the Yamato blast hadn't hit the Leviathan by accident, it would have traveled through deep space, slowly losing all of its heat as its particles separated and scattered. Within a few months, it would become completely harmless, cooled and disbanded.

Matt Horner came closer, stood next to her, and gently took Saraslha's hand from over her face. She looked at him, and he had a light smile. "It's an honor to have you as a guest in our nation, your Highness."

"It… it's…" She looked downward, embarrassed by this. "I forgot my line to that."

"Captain!" The Admiral turned away from Saraslha, addressing his adjutant as he walked down the short flight of steps to be next to the star map. "The Yamato Cannon has to fire twice to complete its particle cycle and return to low-power mode, is that correct?"

The Captain nodded. "That is indeed correct, Admiral. Why do you ask?"

"Well…" He stopped and turned around next to the star map to face the viewing windows and Saraslha, who was looking his way now from a sideways facing. "I suppose that means we'll have to fire it again, won't we? Wouldn't want to leave it in high-power mode for an extended period; bad for the circuit breakers, you know."

"I… suppose you're right, Admiral." The Captain turned to the person at the targeting console. "Let's have a target this time." He said in a low, quick voice. "Aim away from the big Zerg." The operator nodded at this.

"Saraslha," Admiral Horner said. "Would you like to do the honors again?"

She put up a hand, shaking her head. "No… no. I'm good, really. I don't—I don't need to press the button aga-."

"Princess." Admiral Horner cut her off as he indicated the weapons console with his hand. "I insist. Let me feel like I delivered on my agreement; to let you shoot the cannon for fun."

She was looking at the console, daring to smile a bit and feel excited again. "Are you… are you certain?"

Horner's gentle face had a look of expectation. "I'd feel a lot better if you did. You mustn't be selfish, Princess."


	8. Korhal

Saraslha came into a hangar across the ship from the one occupied by her entourage of guards and attendants. She found it to be active and full. Supply crates filled the towering shelves of the far-off walls, and the floor was littered with military hardware. There were humans about, some passing through, some taking inventory or moving it. She observed this as she walked along an elevated walkway next to the wall opposite from the hangar's atmospheric barrier to the outside.

"Hey! Who… what… who are you? What are you doin' in my armory?" The voice was gruff, and had a confrontational tone.

Saraslha stopped, turned to the source, and then had to look down a bit to see his face. He appeared fully grown, but was actually slightly shorter than her. He was very stocky, like a Dwarf, and with facial hair to match. Saraslha's face melted at the sight of him. "Ohh…!" She had a simpering smile as she walked right up to him, her hands out. "You're so adorable!" She half-squealed this. "Come here you stocky little man."

"'Ey, 'ey! Lay off, kid!" He back-stepped, and snapped a robotic clamp hand through the air in front of him before she could get close enough to touch him. "You got permission to be in here, Frilly?"

Saraslha managed to restrain herself, fisting her hands but keeping them up front. "I'm the Zerg Ambassador."

"Alright, and I'm Swann, Rory Swann." He was nodding. "So we're that far. Now tell me what you're doing in here."

"Exploring." She shrugged as she said this.

"That's great, kid. D'you mind 'exploring' somewhere else? This ain't the best place; kinda busy, kinda hazardous…" he tilted his head a bit as he described this.

Saraslha walked right past him as he was talking about busyness and hazards. She hopped over the railing to make a brief drop onto the main floor. When she landed, she beat her dress a bit to un-crinkle it.

"No, no, Whaddya doin'?" Swann ducked his head under the railing and hopped down after her. He had to make rapid steps to keep up with her longer strides. "Keep away from those!" His clamp hand was raised and his voice was half-frustrated and half-pleading.

She was standing next to a small pile of crates. Atop and near these crates were a handful of Spider Mines. "Why do you keep these out and active?" She asked aloud, knowing he was within earshot. One of them walked near her on its four stubby legs, and she picked it up under its main body as she turned to face Swann. "Don't you know how dangerous these things are? It could explode and kill someone."

"Exactly, so just… put that down, alright?" Swann said. The people working in the Armory were too busy to notice the scene she was making. "Unless you want all your arms and legs blown off."

She pulled a little hatch off the top of the mine with a claw. "I took a lot of these apart on Char. A jolt in the right spot, heck, even a little too much static, and the polarity reverses in the capacitor for its analog systems. Its IFF responses become inverted, and it will attack its allies."

"You're getting on my—wait." He just began processing what she said, and suddenly calmed. "It's the analog section that causes that? Really?"

"Yep." She tossed the active, but unarmed mine at Swann, who caught it and set it down as she moved on.

He followed right behind her again. "But analog stuff is supposed to be more reliable than digital, not less. I always thought it was shoddy programming from the eggheads that made Spider Mines go nuts."

"No, it's the capacitor for the analog section. You don't see them on anything but a Spider Mine, and they're a special kind of crude."

"Figures." Swann nodded upward. "Spider Mines are designed to be cheap; knocked together from a pile lowest-bidder parts." He suddenly had a slight smile as he looked at this half-Zerg girl walking right ahead of him. "You said you're exploring, right? Let's see what else you know." He jogged head of her, taking a different turn through the maze of crates as he motioned her to follow.

"Alright." She shrugged and followed. Swann took them to a spot near the atmospheric barrier. Here stood a sizable bipedal mech. It had a pair of large rotor-barrel gatling guns for arms, and stood on two chicken-like legs powered by servo motors.

"How much to you know about this honkin' beauty, little Frilly?" Swann quizzed, his arms crossed.

"It's a Viking," she answered. "It can transform on the spot into a reasonably powerful air-superiority tactical fighter, and its relatively low cost in material is living proof that you guys are capable of making really cool toys. I salvaged one on Char, but haven't gotten it working." Her hands were clasped behind her back.

Swann had a private smile. "The servos are all interchangeable, but the Controllers stay configured to their role. If you add new ones, or switch them around you gotta reprogram them from the technical menu, in the cockpit's OS."

"With jigsaw dot exe, right? I found that and ran it, and it still wouldn't start." She had a private smile as well. "Next possible cause, please. If this troubleshooting works, I might have my own Viking on Char."

"Alright, wisegal," Swann wiped his own face with his biological hand. "You've got a bit of know-how, so I'll skip the basic stuff."

"Lay it on me, little man." Her smile got bigger. "Fast as you can."

"Clotted heat exchange."

"Check."

"Auxiliary battery; the one inside the left foot."

"Found it."

"Rust inside the power distributor."

"None."

"Overheating failsafe thinks it knows better."

"Mine's a version one point three. There is no overheating failsafe."

"Right!' he clapped. "I know your problem."

She looked at him. "Really?" She looked genuinely excited.

"Yep, your problem, little Frilly, is mice."

She frowned quizzically, tilting her head. "Mice? As in the tiny rodents?"

Swann continued, pleased with himself. "Did you give the pilot's seat a close look?"

She shook her head. "No. It's just a chair."

"The Viking won't start if it doesn't know that your little tush is in that chair. And the way it tells is a tiny, simple circuit that the pressure of your sitting will connect. Sometimes mice will chew the little wire. And so on Viking's radar, your tiny butt gets a downgrade to invisible."

Saraslha was touching her own butt lightly. "Well I don't want it to be invisible…"

Swann laughed aloud. "You don't need a tush at all with your level of know-how. There's no shame in losing to the master." He indicated himself as he turned and looked at her. "How'd you like to work for me? I can show you a lotta neat stuff."

She smiled at this, but shook her head. "Much as I'd enjoy that, I think I'll stick with what I've got now."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" He asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"I'm the next overqueen. I'm going to rule the Zerg, when the time comes." She was facing the Viking, her hands hanging naturally at her sides.

"Wait…" His eyes became marbles. "You're Sara… Sarakka…" He had difficulty pronouncing it. "Sarakatta…"

"Saraslha."

"You're the gal we came all the way out here to pick up?"

"You couldn't tell?" She looked at him again.

"No! I thought that was a costume! That you were a crewmember pulling some kinda prank. Zagara's daughter ain't supposed to be some pipsqueak…" He looked uncomfortable now. "Why… why would you come down here?" His voice was low and tense as his head scrunched. "This ain't any place for royalty. It ain't clean, it ain't neatened, it ain't ready for any visits from—"

She suddenly had a warm, detached smile that cut him off mid-ramble. "Be that as it may, I certainly don't regret it. In fact, I believe I owe you a consultancy fee. Thanks to you I can get my Viking on Char working."

"Ah, well," he scratched behind his head shyly. "It's ah… it's on the house."

She grabbed his beefy hand, pulled it forward and put something in his palm. It was a gold nugget the size of a golf ball. "There." She closed his fingers around it. "That's what I consider your knowledge and time to be worth."

Swann knew a thing or two about rocks, metals and ore. He took the gold nugget and sniffed it. Then he tested it with his clamp hand. The look on his face indicated it as real. "This covers the consultancy fee ten times over." He said. "I'mma open an account for you, and the rest'll go to credit on it. You need anything else, you let me know."

Saraslha nodded at this. "You're an honest man, Rory Swann."

"Eh," he brushed it off modestly, looking at the Viking with her again. "You know, I… can't believe I offered you a job."

"I know, right? Wouldn't that be funny?" She raised a mock phone hand to her head. "Hello, mother, I'd just like to let you know: I'm working in Dominion Logistics now, under a guy named Swann. No, it's not a joke. I'm a mechanic now. Love you, bye."

Swann chuckled at this, also raising a mock phone to his ear. "Hey, Matt, so, I got this new girl and she's the Zerg Princess. No, seriously, she wants to learn the trade, I have her right here in a jumpsuit. That's fine..? Okay it's fine. Buh bye."

She was laughing, and he began to laugh as well. The blast door was closing on the hangar entrance in front of the atmospheric barrier. This indicated the ship was about to enter Warp Space. It had already done so once; Korhal was several jumps from the rendezvous point where the fleet met with her Leviathan. "We're almost to Korhal." She said aloud as she turned to leave. "I'll see you around, Swann."

"Yeah, you too Frilly. Good luck with your overqueenin'." He waved her off. "You'll usually find me here, or at the Augustgrad Drydocks."

She felt amused at the nickname he gave her as she headed out of the armory.

* * *

 **1 Hour Later**

" _We have too few fighters, my Princess. You should have allowed me to bring more."_

"Stop complaining, Rindell. Traveling with a small army of guards doesn't exactly convey trust."

They were together in the hold of a Terran Dropship. The interior was well-lit, and recently cleaned. Rindell was behind Saraslha to her right, and they had two Cryolisks with them, as well as eight Hydralisks from the rare Hunter Killer strain.

" _Your safety is not a trifling matter."_

"We are ambassadors, Rindell. They're not going to try anything." Saraslha rolled her eyes. "We had to leave most of what you brought on the Leviathan. And still Hangar Two was crowded."

" _It is my duty to protect you."_

"I know. But try not to kill anybody on our first day here, alright?"

" _Do not dismiss my concerns with jokes."_

"I'm not joking." She said. "Really, where did you find Hunter Killers?" She was petting one of the Hydralisks. "I'm traveling in style with these guys."

" _More importantly they are fearsome fighters. I must ask that after we land, you go nowhere on Korhal without them."_

She crooked an eyebrow, looking at Rindell now. "…All eight?"

" _Plus the Cryolisks."_

"I wish I could also bring Mister Hydralisk with me. Sadly… he didn't make it. Killed in a Lurker ambush." She melodramatically placed a hand on her chest. "May you rest in peace, Mister Hydralisk."

" _You are not taking this seriously."_ Rindell was shaking her head. _"Perhaps I should also convince Izsha not to allow you outside our embassy."_

Saraslha sobered in demeanor. "We're about to land. Do you have the case?"

" _Of course,"_ Rindell held up a black briefcase by the handle in her two-fingered hand. _"It has not left my sight since we departed."_ She was evidently joyful now that Saraslha was no longer joking around. _"What, may I ask is its purpose?"_

"That, my dear Rindell, is the means by which a war between us and the Dominion will never happen again."

" _I do not understand. It is full of paper, and your tablet."_

"You only need to watch." She snapped her arms outward, then brought them in again, getting into the zone. She stared at the ramp-door ahead of them which would open soon as the ship landed. "It's show time." She felt something touching her nerve cords from behind.

Rindell was doing final adjustments to them with her free hand.

The door ramp opened to bright daylight outside. It was temporarily blinding in its contrast with the dimmer interior of the dropship's hold. Saraslha walked out into the open daylight, down the ramp and onto a smooth cement walkway. They were atop an elevated platform over most of the thick urban cityscape of Augustgrad. Ahead of them loomed the top half of the Emperor's Palace. The Dropship had landed on a round landing area at the tip of this triangular elevation.

Saraslha saw a huge number of Terrans on the elevation. Two parallel rows of them were clad in powered armor suits, and carried gauss rifles. They formed a wide human isleway. At the end of it stood a group of people who did not look like soldiers. She took a breath, and walked through this human isleway atop the brightly colored cement of the broad elevation. It felt warm on her feet, having baked in the sun since morning.

" _Do you think what we have could take this many Dominion troops?"_ Saraslha asked Rindell in her psionic voice. She saw left and right the number of soldiers comprising the isleway.

" _It would be close, my Princess. But this formation of theirs is impractical; they would shoot one another on opposite rows."_

" _I think it's ceremonial. They don't intend to fight us."_

" _But they're ready. They are untrusting, or else they would not bring out so many soldiers."_

" _You wanted to bring more too, Rindell."_

" _I did not say I blamed them. It is normal to fear the Swarm."_

They reached the end of the human isleway. The platform had elevated gardens and fountains to the left and right of the main walkway, which became more prevalent now that they had come far from the landing pad.

The group of people just ahead were diverse in height and color. Two of off to the side were Protoss. Saraslha stopped several meters from them. Rindell and the rest of her guards did the same behind her.

One of the Terrans stepped forward. He was young, and dressed in a gleaming black uniform adorned with chains and medals. A sword hung at his hip, which his arm rested atop with a deliberate slackness. He stopped near Saraslha, and extended a hand to her. "You must be the Princess Saraslha I've heard so much about." His voice betrayed his youth even further, but it was crisp and controlled. He did not have a fake smile, but rather his face remained blank.

Saraslha had studied this custom. She took his hand and shook it. "And you must be Emperor Valerian."

"Indeed." He withdrew his hand, and then began speaking in a slightly different tone. "It is my sincerest pleasure to welcome you to our—"

"Hey, Valerian." She nodded upward, cutting him off. "I want to talk to you about some business."

He shook himself from his rehearsed line, and looked at her intently now. "Business? Of what nature?" He now seemed alive and in the moment

"Tell me if this sounds appealing to you: A trade deal between the Dominion and the Zerg Swarm."

"A… trade deal…" His brow twitched, wrapping his mind around the concept. "With the Zerg?"

Saraslha was grinning, alive and in the moment as well. "That's what I said."

"Your Majesty." Another human came forward. He was old, with thick but well-groomed facial hair and wore a minister's robe. He put his mouth close to Valerian's ear, who leaned over to listen as he whispered.

"Who's this gizzard, Valerian?" Saraslha asked.

The old man withdrew from the Emperor's ear, and had a grin plastered on his face as he looked at Saraslha. "It is such an honor to receive your visit, your Highness." He walked up to her. "We've prepared a tour for you of our Capital, if you'd just come with me."

"No thanks." Saraslha shook her head lightly. "Business first. Wining and dining can come later." She was looking at Valerian.

"Oh, nonsense." The Minister said. "If you and your… people, would just come with me. There's a shuttle prepared for you on the tarmac." He placed a hand on her arm, at the bare spot between the detached sleeve and her shoulder, and started bringing her along.

Saraslha froze in place at this. Goosebumps ran all up her back as she stared beaming at the spot the Minister was grabbing her. "Rindell, bad touch!"

The Broodmother snapped into motion, unleashing a roaring hiss as her appendages all flipped outward and she moved abruptly forward. Her reserve of acid spines were showing as she was about to rip the Minister in half.

He wasn't expecting this, and fell backward on the ground as he looked up at Rindell in terror. "Oh dear god!" He scrambled away, getting back onto his feet next to the Emperor. Every soldier in the vicinity raised their weapon.

Valerian grabbed the Minister by the front of his robe and pulled him close. "Are you trying to start a war?" He growled.

The Minister shook his head rapidly. His day wasn't going so well now. The soldiers lowered their weapons.

He let go of the Minister in a rough manner. "Get this man out of my sight!" He ordered.

Saraslha saw the Minister being escorted away by a pair of guards. She looked at the two Protoss off to the side. One of them was pointing at the scene, and the other was visibly laughing. She could not make out what they were saying.

Valerian reverted to being as calm as ever, as though his expression of anger at the Minister hadn't even happened. "Now then… Saraslha." He absently pulled one of his gloves a bit tighter onto his hand, composed as ever. "I believe there was talk of a trade deal, before we were so rudely interrupted."

"Who was that guy?"

He lifted his eyebrows a bit, and then laughed lightly and briefly at her question. "You only need to know his story, Saraslha. And that story is he was placed near me, and I was made to listen to him for reasons I won't bore you with, but will rather encapsulate with the word: Politics."

"What's going to happen to him?" She hoped it wouldn't be too harsh. All he did was make her a bit uncomfortable.

"He will be charged with assaulting the heir apparent of a foreign nation. And I'll never have to listen to his obnoxious input again." He was looking off at his own fingers, rubbing against his thumb. Playing the world's smallest violin.

"That's… vicious." Saraslha was actually smiling. She liked this guy. "I thought Zerg politics could get nasty, but that… that's just not fair."

"There will be time for sharing stories once the aforementioned trade deal is concluded, yes?"

She nodded. "Right. Summon your cabinet, Valerian. Our two nations are gonna have them some exchanging of goods before long."

"Do you have particulars in mind?" He asked.

Saraslha signaled, and Rindell handed her the briefcase. She held it up. "I've got every detail worked out down to the larva's ass."

The Emperor nodded at this, "I see no reason to wait. We'll convene immediately." He and his entourage turned and headed back to the palace. The human isleway of soldiers dispersed.

Saraslha and her guards followed just behind Valerian's group. As she did, the two Protoss approached and walked beside her. When Rindell came closer to Saraslha, looking at them, they kept a fair distance.

"You guys must be from the Daelaam." Saraslha said to them.

" _Indeed we are."_ One of them said in a psionic voice. _"En taro Tassadar, Princess Saraslha."_ Said the other, whose voice and body were more effeminate.

Saraslha suddenly had a flat look, followed by an annoyed frown. "Really? Are you guys serious?"

The two Protoss looked at each other and exchanged expressions as they walked. Their faces looked like smooth, gaunt, symmetrical stones with a pair of glowing eyes and no orifices to speak of. _"What has discomforted you?"_ The female asked.

"I don't speak a freaking word of Protoss." Saraslha was pouting a bit now. "And the first thing you do is start yapping in your own language. What the hell's an 'en taro tassadar'?"

" _Oh! No, no."_ They both raised a hand at different times. _"It's a greeting."_ The male said. _"Every Protoss you meet might open a conversation with it."_

"Oh… Alright. I can gel with that." She was nodding slowly. "I saw you two laughing at what happened to the robed guy. Did you know him?"

" _That was Belorant."_ The female said. _"A lobbyist in the Emperor's council who represented Adaptive Systems Interplanetary; the ASI, among other organizations."_

The male Protoss continued: _"Though a trade deal with the Zerg is unprecedented, it would be ASI's nightmare if made real. That's why he tried to get you away from the Emperor."_

Saraslha was curious of this. "What does this company do?"

" _Planet-wide power grid infrastructure. Particularly on colony worlds. In fact, your purification of the planet Sephulli, and the Dominion's subsequent colonization has caused their stocks to rise. The planet is highly habitable and resource-rich, making expedited development; their services being a part of that, profitable."_ Said the female Protoss.

"So really they should be grateful for what I've done."

" _Were they more honest, they would be."_

"And…" Saraslha trailed. "Why were you amused at what happened to him?"

" _Simple: We don't like him."_

" _He's a jackass."_ The two Protoss said in succession.

They came inside one of the main corridors of the Augustgrad Palace; a broad hall with a high arched ceiling. And then they came to another large powered door which opened to reveal a spacious conference room whose table seemed to have vastly more seats and surface than it needed.

"Leave our troops outside the door to this room." Saraslha said.

Rindell groaned at this. _"Is that really-"_

"It's an order, Rindell. There are no Terran soldiers in this meeting room, so I'm not bringing any either. It's a place of Negotiation and dialogue."

" _As you wish."_ The Hunter Killers and two Cryolisks idled out in the hallways. The Dominion troops who were posted out in the corridors gave the creatures the stink-eye, but otherwise remained at their posts, their weapons holstered.

* * *

She was seated in a desk chair inside a sparsely lit room. The only windows to the outside were upper viewing windows to the indoors of GenTek's giant research facility in the outskirts of Augustgrad. A long, fold-cut skirt concealed a pair of shoeless feet. This appearance was completed by a double-layered jumper and fingerless gloves, her hair untended and unruly, and her attention fixated on a computer screen. She was slouched back, typing lazily, yet rapidly with one hand.

Keid Marchen was sitting on the floor in the same room, a clamshell computer situated on his lap. The place was a server closet, and Keid's 1.8 meter height forced him to situate himself awkwardly among the clutter littering the floor.

A new beam of light poured inside. Francis came in, saw the two, and sighed.

Keid shielded his eyes looking away. The girl did the same. "Too bright, Francis. Be shutting door please."

"I didn't see you come in, Keid. Were you here all night?"

"Yes. Now in or out."

Francis ignored that request. He turned to the girl. "You're just as much of a schedule bomb, Matilde."

"Sleep is forbidden." She replied rapidly.

Keid shot a fist into the air, re-focused on his laptop. "Forbidden!"

"Dammit, Keid." He rubbed his forehead. "You're a mediocre coder. What could our head of IT possibly need your help with?"

"I'm the support." Keid said as though briefing in a mission. "Matilde is the brains of this operation."

"And what is this 'operation'?"

"Can't tell." Matilde said, not taking her eyes off her screen.

"It's need to know, and you don't, Francis."

Francis looked upward. "Letty. What are they doing?"

" _May I tell Doctor Francis what you're doing, Miss Matilde?"_ The voice of the Virtual Intelligence asked.

"You may not."

"Ha! Suck it, Francis." Keid was grinning, with a caffeine induced twitch.

Francis had a flat, somber look, then a crooked smile. "Letty, clearance override, passkey nine, seven, zero seven, Sierra, Tango."

" _Override accepted. Administrator privileges granted to User: DFrancis."_

Francis nodded. "Now, answer my question."

A long pause, many long seconds. _"…Miss Matilde, may I answer this important man's question?"_

"No."

" _I'm sorry Doctor Francis. Your access to the requisitioned information is denied."_

Keid was laughing through a shut mouth, his eyes fixated on his laptop.

Francis was visibly annoyed. "Enough screwing around, Keid. When you're not supervising the Subject, the crew is a nervous wreck."

"We completed its transfer to the Grey Mesa five days ago. It's fine."

"You shouldn't have customized the Container up the ass to begin with, and you shouldn't be doing this crap on company time."

Matilde interjected, "Keid, this man sucks the joy out of the room. Make him go away."

"You just continue your beautiful work, boss." Keid said easily. "I'm right behind you on the legwork."

Francis groaned, hanging his head now. "I'm just going to assume… whatever you're doing is important."

"Astronomically. And we're nearly done I think. Are we nearly done, Matilde?"

"Nearly done." She affirmed.

"Alright, fine." Francis conceded. "Just be at the Grey Mesa compound by the start of the night shift."

"Will do." Without looking that way, Keid raised a hand at Francis with the tips of his index and thumb touching, and then pointed out the door with the same hand. Francis left, shutting the door.

Several more minutes, and Matilde put a small, plastic-encased disc inside a drive. "Writing…" It finished writing, and she took it out and handed it to Keid, who had folded the laptop and shelved it.

He accepted the disc. "My thanks. You are a true computer god, Matilde; a metaphorical savior of lives."

"And… your end of the agreement?" She was shrank down a bit, looking up at the taller Keid's eyes.

"Of course." He smiled pleasantly. "I'll take you out for a chicken and waffle dinner at M-Bargos. It's on me."

She had a quiet, shy smile, standing next to her desk chair as Keid was near the door, putting his coat on. "When?" She asked.

"Whenever suits you, m'lady."

She became elated. "How about right now?"

"Sure." He opened the door out of the server room.

"Oh, but…" She put her hands on her hair, feeling how messy it was. Her jumper, rugged skirt and lack of shoes.

"You look great, Matilde." He stopped with his hand on the handle, looking back at her.

Her fingers ran through her hair. "..You think so?"

"Yes, you look very smart." He said this as though there was nothing else to remark on.

She smiled at this, looking down. "Still, I'd like to get cleaned up first. How about we meet there in two hours?"

"How about I pick you up at your place?"

"That…" She looked off nervously. "Makes it look like a date."

"What are you talking about, Matilde? Of course this is a date."

"It… is?"

"Yeah." He was leaning away from the open door, holding onto the handles on both sides. "You can talk about programming languages I've never used, and I can talk about subjects in Physics that you've never heard about. It'll be a blast."

She briskly, confidently marched forward, getting up into his face and smiling through her spectacles. "I'll be ready at my place ninety minutes from now. You'd better be there to pick me up."

He nodded wordlessly as he stepped out of her way, and she exited the server room first.

* * *

Saraslha was standing at a large, semi-ovular conference table attended by Valerian Mengsk, as well as a number of cabinet members. "The Zeta Compound is formed naturally over the course of thousands of years, deep inside the mantle of large bodies of mass, i.e. planets. It is beyond even the Protoss' ability to synthesize."

The Terrans, and the two Protoss were quiet and attentive, and she continued. Her Tablet had been plugged into a 3D projector at the center of the table, and she used it to display a new model. "This is the Endo-Terrestrial Nydus Worm." The image shown was much narrower than an ordinary Nydus Worm. It was covered in exoskeletal plates which flowed down its length until reaching its head. These plates were ejected and adhered onto the side walls of the tunnel it dug in the simulation, forming a support framework; a stable, permanent tunnel.

One of the cabinet members raised a hand with a question, and Saraslha nodded to him. He stood. "Would it be possible to buy specimens of this tunnel-creating Zerg?"

"That's a great question." Saraslha said. "And the answer is no. My people are not slaves, and I will never sell my living subjects in such a manner any more than you would sell human laborers to me."

The Cabinet Member sat down, his hands raised. "Fair enough, Princess."

"It's alright, I welcome all questions." She continued, moving to a new model on her tablet, which was projected over the table. "I've skimmed over my method of mining Zeta Compound, and I can safely say it's covered. The other step is shipping it." The projection displayed an extremely bulky flying Zerg whose long main body was a framework for two rows of four almost ball-shaped containers reinforced by external carapace. They teardropped at the bottoms, with orifices on each container that could loosen open and contract shut. "This is the first ever Zerg cargo freighter, designed jointly by myself and Abathur. The first two prototypes are fully grown, with twelve more in cultivation.

"Belorant ought to have a lot to say about this." Another cabinet member, this one female, and in charge of economics spoke aloud. "It's too bad he's currently jailed and awaiting trial. That right, everyone?" Everybody started hitting the table in acknowledgement. The Emperor had a small smile.

"Yes, indeed correct." Another cabinet member said; the Minister of Energy. "The Zeta Compound is an essential superconducting component in any fusion core larger than a doll house, as well has the ultra-capacity distributors that accompany these cores. More of it means cheaper energy all across the Dominion and its colonies."

"And the Zerg-controlled worlds…" The Emperor added. "Your worlds, Princess Saraslha, have significantly greater deposits of this compound than any planet controlled by the Dominion or the Daelaam. If we want it then we have to trade with you."

"Precisely correct, Emperor Valerian." Saraslha said. "And since I have so much of it, or will soon at least, I'm willing to sell it to your government, along with Dominion-based private and public organizations for bulk price. This adjustment also accounts for abundant supply, lowering my price to seventy percent of its current market value."

"If you'll pardon such a curt question…" Valerian had a finger raised, frowning in thought.

"No, ask away." Saraslha said. "This has never been done before, and we need to be open about any details and concerns."

"What use do your people have for money?"

"Great question." She nodded in his direction. "We're going to use the revenue from our exports to buy things. This isn't a one-sided treaty; the Swarm is going to import in addition to exporting."

"What do you plan on importing?" A cabinet member asked.

"Minerals and Vespene gas are definitely on the shopping list. As well as any exotic organisms that show up in your market, and whose essence we might be interested in."

Rindell was behind Saraslha's seat, remaining quiet, but now she spoke up. _"Ahem, Saraslha…"_

"Oh, and I promised Rindell here she could buy a bunch of dolls with accessories."

"The Zerg…" Valerian held his forehead on a forefinger and thumb, and had his elbow propped on an arm of his seat. "The fearsome, all-consuming Swarm wants to export a valuable material to us, and use some of the revenue to buy toys…" He was shaking his head, trying to contain an amused smile. "What are you doing with your people, Saraslha." He asked rhetorically.

"I'm proactively ruling." She said with a gentle, detached smile. "Besides, a few toys for my gal here is a literal speck compared to the overall amount of credits involved in this deal."

"And just how much Zeta Compound are you putting on the market?" The Economics Minister asked.

Saraslha reached into her open case and took out a binder, passing it along the table to the nearest person to look at and pass along. "Ninety metric tonnes of material within the first month. Two hundred on the second, four hundred on the third. This export volume will increase until market demand is met, and then I'll have the production and shipping rate remain at that level, leveling off as needed."

The binder reached the Economics Minister, who held onto it, studying it closely. The Energy Minister moved to sit next to her.

"All of the particulars have been listed there, and in the rest of these docs." Saraslha unplugged her tablet from the projector, and then took her open case filled with more binders and slid it along to them. "That's about all I have to say. Once you guys put the trade agreement in a coherent document, Valerian and I'll sign the thing and we'll be underway."

With this concluded and Valerian's cabinet occupied, Saraslha headed for a stairway away from the large table in the center of the hall, and went up it. It led to a broad terrace overlooking the city, with thick support columns in the mid-point between the ledge and the wall. Here, she took a deep breath, getting fresh air which blew past. Rindell had quietly followed her.

" _When you said you wanted trade, you were genuine."_ The two Protoss had followed her there. They stopped near the solid railing, keeping a respectful distance on account of Rindell's stink-eye.

Saraslha felt exhausted. The meeting had dragged on for hours, and it was evening on the planet. She looked over at the two Protoss. "I haven't done any research or planning for a trade deal with you guys yet. Longer distance, less tension…"

The female raised a hand in a stopping gesture at this. _"I think, between our two empires, neutrality is the best option for now."_

The male added, _"Our people remain untrusting and wary of the Zerg. The Terrans do as well, but they conceal it for the sake of diplomacy."_

Saraslha was turned to the view of the city. She released a breath, letting her head sag. "You're right. My people have a lot of baggage. We've done a lot of terrible things to a lot of people, and it may be impossible to truly make amends. That it all happened before I was born is no excuse to wash my hands of it. If I can't bear the blame for everything, then I shouldn't be playing ruler."

" _What do you know of events that happened before you were born?"_ The male Protoss spoke up, and Saraslha looked his way. _"Aiur was infested, massacred by the Zerg. And then that wasn't enough for your people; you came and destroyed Shakuras as well. It is only the order of our Hierarch the prevents me from killing you, and your abomination of a protector, right here on the spot!"_ His psi blades activated; a pair of blue energy blades spawned from facilitators in his armored forearms.

"Easy, Rindell." Saraslha put a hand on front of her, as her acid spines had been bared. "He's not going to do anything. Emotional, yes. But Protoss are far from stupid."

" _What judgement could you possibly make of—"_

"Single-minded, martyr-worshipping, and formerly Conclave-following." Saraslha cut him off, her face had become an icy glare. "I can do this all day you golden prick. A big bag of insults for all your kind."

He slashed one of his blades through the air. _"I've heard enough of your-"_

Saraslha cut him off again, this time in her psionic voice. _"You have it backwards: you've heard far too little, and talked enough."_ She looked at the two Protoss, meeting their eyes. _"I think a lesson is in order, a lesson in language."_

Saraslha pointed toward the open path indoors, the direction of the conference hall. _"I'm establishing a trade deal with the Dominion, and when I talk to you guys, I regard you as representatives of the Daelaam. Notice my terminology? Lets compare it to yours: To you I'm Zerg. And those who massacred Aiur are Zerg, and the ones who forced you to blow up Shakuras are Zerg. Do you notice how foolish you sound? Not Zagara's Swarm, the Overmind's Swarm and Amon's Swarm, but Zerg, Zerg, Zerg. That's a problem, and it's your problem."_

" _If you want to be judged differently, then you first must act differently."_ The Protoss said.

Saraslha indicated the conference hall again. "What the hell do you think I'm doing?"

"Let's all put our weapons away, and talk like civilized beings, hm?" Emperor Valerian had come out on the terrace, and was looking at the Daelaam representative, and at Rindell, whose acid spines were still bared. With this, the psi blades turned off, and Rindell shut the casings around her acid spines.

The two Protoss turned to leave. _"We will see if you and your mother are truly different, from all Zerg who came before you."_ The Protoss walked away.

"Buh bye you two!" Saraslha said, after them in a sweet voice. "Hope to see you again."

Valerian leaned back on the railing near Saraslha, watching the Protoss leave. "My ministers are going over the documents of your trade plan. There may be changes we wish to make in the drafting of the final treaty."

"And you can run them all through me when you're ready. If I'm not here, you can probably find me at the Zerg embassy."

"As a foreign dignitary, you and your bodyguard may come and go from the Palace as you please, and you're also welcome in the city, so long as you don't break the law."

Saraslha was amused by the amount of freedom she was voluntarily given on Korhal. "You don't think Rindell here out on the streets is going to make a fuss?"

"I don't." He was shaking his head. "Your arrival here was covered by every news network interested in ratings. Everybody in the Dominion knows who you are."

"Oh…" She was suddenly shy. "So… everybody saw that little incident near the landing pad, with that Belorant fellow."

Valerian was rubbing his fingers and thumb, looking off. "The clip of that incident has already drawn more than a billion views on the internet. You and your bodyguard haven't even been here a day, but you're already celebrities."

"I see…" Saraslha had a somewhat snide smile. "You must really care about your people, Valerian."

"Is that so?" He looked indifferent.

"Yeah." Saraslha was nodding. "You haven't left my sight since my landing and our first meeting. This means that during the council, you were somehow updated on the general goings-on in the Dominion, even something like a viral video."

Valerian was running a hand over his face now. He looked flustered. "There's something I mean to ask you, Saraslha."

"Ask away, Valerian." She was pleased with herself at having made an observation he didn't expect.

"What exactly are you aiming to accomplish with a trade deal? What are your aims?"

Saraslha calmed, leaning back against the railing as well. "Everything I do is for the good of the Swarm. I aim to make it stronger, more prosperous and more effective in the universe at large."

"And how does trade, as opposed to invasion and conquest fulfill this goal?"

"Remember the last time our empires had a war, Valerian? I don't personally because I wasn't born yet, but I've studied history. The Queen of Blades invaded Dominion Space, taking planet after planet. You guys ended up winning that war, thanks almost entirely to James Raynor."

"And the Keystone." Valerian added.

"Which Raynor gathered for you. Anyhow, I've taken it as a piece of history to learn from." Saraslha was looking downward, and her clawed hand was gripped around the metal upper piece of the railing wall in a vicegrip. "The Swarm was beaten and scattered. Our leader, her life was placed in serious jeopardy, placed at the mercy of humans. It was a disgrace." Her fingers were digging into the metal.

"That is the most glaring weakness of the Zerg, I've concluded: A single-minded belief in its own invincibility. Every leader you've had was ultimately defeated by this belief." Valerian said.

"I agree." Saraslha calmed, nodding. "The Queen of Blades needed to find the Keystone, and most of the pieces were in Terran Space. She had to invade in order to find them. This set off the chain of events which led to our defeat. I want to avoid such restrictions; I want to be able to get what I want without having to fight, and put my life in danger. If in the future you have something I want, I can acquire it at comparatively little cost and risk through negotiation. The Queen of Blades may have been able to do this to acquire the Keystone, had she lain the groundwork in advance."

"you scare me, Saraslha." Valerian was shaking his head. "A Zerg leader who doesn't think she's invincible, who fights methodically, and isn't averse to different methods out of a sense of pride or power. I'm willing to bet you've never lost a battle."

"I… actually haven't, but that doesn't mean I won't. I'm constantly wary of the possibility of losing; the possibility of being wrong."

"Spoken shivers up my Terran spine, Saraslha." He walked away. "I'll see you later tonight, or tomorrow, however long it takes to draft the final treaty. If it's acceptable to both parties, we'll both sign it."

"Sounds good Valerian." Saraslha said as he left. She turned to the view of the cityscape of Augustgrad. "Rindell, do you know what I'm thinking right now?"

" _I do not."_ She said.

"Take a guess." She was smirking.

" _You will undoubtedly do something to wrack my nerves, as you have all day today, my Princess."_

"Yeah…" She trailed. "You're coming with me everywhere I go, being my bodyguard."

" _Of course. I shall protect you with my life."_

"Very good…" She was looking down at the city, with beaming eyes. "We're gonna have ourselves some fun."


	9. What was Sown

**Early Morning**

It was a giant, monolith box made of pure black metal, whose only distinctions were the seams in which the plates locked together. There were places on it where thick energy cables ran along the sandy ground and plugged into the giant box. They looked like patches; discoloring blemishes on its gleaming black form.

Saraslha stood in front of this box. She was at a console which controlled the mechanisms inside. It was early morning on Korhal, and she was alone in the central clearing of a compound in an enclosure atop a giant mesa in the desert. The night sky was visible above. There were no Terrans anywhere.

" _You are nearly there, Saraslha. Please, grant my freedom."_

"It's going to be alright." She said to the source of the voice, which was sealed inside the container. "I'm going to set you free."

" _I will be able to serve again, and no longer rot in this cage."_

"You can come home…" Saraslha said, browsing the OS of the terminal controlling it, looking for how to open it. "You won't have to go through this any longer… Niadra."

"You shouldn't do that." The voice was new, and came from above to her side. It spoke calmly.

Saraslha looked in the direction of the voice. He was a male Terran, on an above catwalk connecting two elevated structures built into the rock face. He appeared relaxed, leaning on the railing with one hand. He was the first Terran she saw in this place. "And why shouldn't I do it, hm? Pray tell." She said to him.

The Terran's young face shifted to a detached, but vaguely knowing smile; not an unpleasant one. "I know who you are, and you may of course do as you please, your Highness. I only ask that you hear me out first."

"Who are you, and what do you have to say?" She nodded upward, frowning.

"My name is Keid Marchen, and I want to tell you everything: About the being inside that Container, how it came to be. Why it is contained, and what it will do if you set it free. Once you are informed, the decision will be yours whether to set it loose. Do you find this acceptable?"

"So you… were aware of this." Her frown deepened.

He spread his hands, standing straight on the walkway above. "She was found dormant in deep space, aboard a derelict Protoss ship. All other life aboard had slowly died out, but she survived by entering a state of hibernation."

"And when you found this ship, did you not consider what she may have wanted? Did you bother asking her if she'd like to return to the Swarm?"

"No."

"That's despicable." She said. "She's a thinking, sentient being, and you've treated her like a captured slave."

"Those are the moral implications, yes." He nodded. "But on that subject, no Protoss was alive on the ship either. What do you think happened to them, and who do you think made it happen to them?"

"Irrelevant. If she committed a crime against the Protoss, then it's their judgement to make on her. Niadra's actions have not effected you in the slightest."

"Touché, Saraslha."

She'd heard enough from this Terran. Niadra's voice grew stronger. It continued to implore her to open the box; to set her free. She found the release sequence in the panel's OS, and was about to press enter to run it. ""I've heard about enough of your evasive garble, Human."

"Please, my name is Keid."

She ignored that. "If you have a reason for me not to let Niadra go, you'd better tell me now."

Keid's eyes shut, and he sighed. "She's become an original Hybrid, and mentally unstable. If you let her go, she'll kill you, and me, then go and have a heyday in Augustgrad."

She almost wanted to laugh at such a blatant lie. "Is that really the best you could come up with? The Hybrid are gone, you numbnuts." She pressed enter. The black gleaming container audibly unlocked inside, and then it began to open.

The Terran turned and ran into one of the elevated buildings. Saraslha was focused on the opening container. Its cracks split more and ever more, slowly and deliberately. And then the locks unlatched completely. It opened in front of her.

* * *

 **Earlier**

"And that's how the Sephulli mission went." Saraslha was sitting cross-legged on a metallic table. In front of her was a female semi-humanoid whose main body was erected upright from hanging by a long main appendage that went up into a crevasse in the ceiling. Her name was Izsha; the Zerg Ambassador to the Dominion. And they were located in their embassy; a large building in the Imperial Square which had been ceded to them.

"I am aware of this entire story, Saraslha." Izsha said, finally able to speak after Saraslha had gone on a huge tangent of things that happened since last time they met. "Broodmother Zagara keeps me updated on relevant events."

"Oh…" She was looking down now, at the floor. An open-air view to the outside was presented by two large openings on acute walls. It was very early morning, and still dark out. They'd been up all night. "Well…" Saraslha perked up again. "What do you think of the trade deal?"

"It is not my place to judge, only to account and analyze" Izsha stated simply.

"I didn't ask for your judgement." Saraslha said easily. "I asked what your thoughts were."

"I think you are twisting the Swarm to your liking."

"Hm," she was nodding at this. "That's accurate. Do you deem this to be good or bad?"

"I think experimentation in new realms is good for the Swarm. However, complacency and a lack of readiness is harmful."

"Readiness for what?"

"Conflict." Izsha said. "The Swarm has always accomplished its aims through power and force."

Saraslha had always admired Izsha's honesty; that she was never afraid to speak her mind, even to the Queen of Blades back in the day. "If our relations with the Dominion go sour, and I'm not saying they can't, we'll have more resources and info on our enemy with the trade deal than without."

"Indeed, but the same is true of them." Izsha said. "The Zeta Compound is not only used for civic energy; the Terrans also use it in their capital ships. You're strengthening them."

Saraslha had a serious look. "Izsha, I promise you: The Swarm will always be prepared for war. Even if there's a hundred, two hundred, three hundred years of peace, I won't let it be anything less than the most powerful empire in known space." Then she shook her head. "But I'm not going to go looking for trouble, and I won't allow this readiness to be a restrictor against trying new things."

Izsha processed this, and then had a reply. "You speak as though you already lead the Swarm, when it is Zagara who performs this role."

"Yeah…" Saraslha was scratching behind her head, grinning bashfully. "Mom says I have to get experience in every part of the job long before my taking her place can even be considered. Pre-acclimation, you know. She loves that I'm taking it seriously."

Rindell was standing at the table near them. Several plastic and fabric dolls were stood erect or laid down on the table in front of her. She had one in her hand, and was meticulously sewing a little dress on its little form. _"I do not worry for the future of the Swarm. We've a great leader in Overqueen Zagara, and the Princess will be an even greater one."_

"Slowly inching our way back up to Queen of Blades territory." Saraslha had an optimistic look toward Izsha.

Izsha looked off, seeming to cross her long, flexible appendages. Each had a single thick talon on the end. _"So long as the true Queen lives, she is our leader. Zagara only rules in her absence."_

"Maybe ambassador isn't the right job for you." Saraslha said. "You should be our High Priestess."

Izsha's sour expression deepened as she looked sideways down at Saraslha, who was still sitting on the table.

Saraslha lifted her eyebrows, speaking gently. "You couldn't have her all to yourself forever, Izsha. Everybody needs her now; all life. The Swarm needs her as well."

"How so?" Izsha said.

"Hm?"

"You say the Swarm still needs her. In what way is our race connected to her at this point?" There was sorrow in her tone.

Saraslha had sobered. The conversation had become serious. "She gives us something to aspire to, Izsha. It's not just a formality, or a wave back to the past when we refer to her as our god; she really is, in every way. Thanks to her, we have a reason to grow; to become more than we are. Beyond the hollowness of mere survival."

" _Whenever I think of the Swarm as an aimless being without purpose,"_ Rindell added. _"I think of her, and those feelings vanish."_

Saraslha continued, "she did more for us then we ever did for her. She gave us meaning; a purpose, beyond the simpleminded death worship of our Overmind-guided forebears. She'd… want you to embody that meaning and fulfill that purpose, Izsha. Live your life, and don't take it for granted."

Izsha was silent and still looking off. When she did not reply, Saraslha hopped off the table and turned to leave the room. She gestured toward Rindell, who scooped up her dolls and followed.

They both exited the room into one of the corridors. Saraslha spoke when the door shut behind them. "I… want to leave her alone for now, Rindell."

" _Yes, I understand."_

Saraslha looked back at her as they walked, and saw Rindell's armload of dolls. "Do you plan on setting those in a little toy house?

" _I plan to implant them with a creature that will allow them to autonomously move and interact with each other. It only requires the right essence."_

"Okay…" She slowly looked forward again. "You went and made it weird, Rindell… Weirded it up thoroughly."

" _The storekeepers at that supermarket were very accommodating and polite. It makes me want to return to that place."_

"I think they were just interested in selling you stuff."

" _Why is it you didn't get anything, my Princess?"_

"Oh, if I want anything I just order it online, like I did for parts to my Viking or Psi-Disruptor."

" _Order… online? Does this mean it is delivered to you?"_

Saraslha wanted to slap herself. "Rindell, before we go any further on this topic, you need to hear this out:"

" _I shall always hear you out, my Princess."_

"Okay: My account has a finite amount of credits. I don't mind letting you use it but you can't go overboard. Whereas the money we're going to make from trade is going to go to our nation's treasury; that's a whole different account, and we can't spend it as though it's ours."

" _I'm… trying to follow what you're saying."_

"What have you got?"

" _I have concluded that money is complicated."_

"And..?" her brow lifted.

" _Finite."_

"Very good, Rindell." Saraslha was nodding.

" _Why do Terrans ascribe so much importance to it, if it is complicated and finite?"_

"Good question, my dear Rindell." Saraslha was happy that Rindell had an active mind. "Imagine the supermarket; we pay money for the things we want from it, so that they in turn can pay for that very stuff as it was delivered to them. The humans at the selling point are tasked with organizing and shelving stuff for customers like us to peruse. They did not create it at that spot."

" _I still am not seeing the purpose of money. Who delivered to the Supermarket the items which they sold to us?"_

"A delivery specialist, who in turn obtained it from a supplier, who in turn created it out of raw resources harvested by themselves or from specialized harvesters. Every link in this figurative chain makes money in what they do."

" _And so… Everything Terrans do is for the sake of money; it is the reason all of their individuals act and innovate and perform."_

"That's…" Saraslha frowned a bit at this. "Actually not inaccurate, Rindell."

" _And so money must be their Queen."_

She felt struck by Rindell's analysis. Money being to the Terrans what The Swarm's Queen was to it. "These Terrans are led by Emperor Valerian, not money."

" _Indeed, but if he ran short of money, or had a massive surplus of it, this would dictate his actions, would it not?"_

"I… suppose it would." Saraslha was nodding."

" _Then my suspicion is affirmed. Money is the Terrans' Queen."_

"I won't refute your view of it. It may be more correct than mine."

" _None of this tells me about the online delivery mechanism."_

Saraslha had a cracked-up smile. "And I'm not going to tell you anything about the online delivery mechanism. If you're interested then you can learn."

" _I will return to the supermarket that has those polite Terrans, and acquire a means of research. Then I will research it."_

They reached an outdoor corridor; open on one side and overlooking the cityscape from their upper floor. The sun was just coming up, supplanting the artificial light of the city. "You can bring it back here once you have it. Izsha actually got Wi-Fi for this building."

" _I will need to learn what that is as well."_

Saraslha was glad that Rindell had a hobby, and also glad that she was naturally curious about things. She wanted all intelligent beings in the Swarm to be like this; to have interests other than fighting. "Just try not to get mobbed while you're out there. We've become internet celebrities thanks to your diligent bodyguarding on the Palace landing pad."

" _Keep in psionic contact with Izsha while I'm away. Do not leave the embassy without an escort."_

"You just do whatever, Rindell. Enjoy your life, that's an order."

Rindell turned to leave, but hesitated, stopping to look back. _"Are you certain…"_

"Yes! Go, scram. You can't hang onto me all freaking day. I need some me time."

With this, she turned and left.

Unbeknownst to Saraslha, she was being watched by a cloaked operative from the roof of an adjacent building. He watched Rindell leave, and turned on a communicator: _"They're separated. Priming Psi Relay now."_

The Psi Relay was aimed at the Zerg embassy; at Saraslha specifically, and was directly linked to another psi relay on a rooftop further back. This chain continued, in the direction of the desert; the direction of the Grey Mesa.

Saraslha, still standing at the Terrace, suddenly heard a psionic voice; it was loud and clear in its speech: _"Who is this? I sense your presence."_

Saraslha looked off in that direction. She did not see the operative or the Psi Relay. _"I'm Saraslha, who are you? Are you a human psychic?"_

" _No."_ The voice said. _"Your mind… it is Zerg. You must rescue me, you must give me my freedom."_

" _Whoa, slow down pal."_ She said. _"Who are you, and what's wrong?"_

" _I… am a Broodmother, in service to the Swarm. I entered hibernation to stay alive in deep space. When I awoke, I was inside this prison. I implore you for your aid."_

Saraslha could sense the direction it was coming from. The voice and speech pattern were unmistakable; the voice came from a Broodmother. Saraslha had an intent look in the distance. One of her people was imprisoned on this planet. Rindell had already left, and she didn't want to bug her with this.

" _Izsha, I'm…"_ Saraslha stopped herself. Izsha needed to be left alone for awhile. Their conversation had opened an old wound, which needed to be tended.

With this, Saraslha took Rindell's eight Hunter Killers and pair of Cryolisks, and had them meet her on the roof of the embassy. There was a pack of Overlords here, sleeping in dormancy and getting sun on their bodies during the day. They helped Izsha control her small, elite Brood. She wouldn't mind if Saraslha borrowed a couple of them.

* * *

Keid Marchen and Matilde arrived at her apartment building very late at night; the early morning when it was still dark. After eating chicken and waffles at M-Bargo's, they had stayed at their table, talking until the place closed. After this they walked to a public park with their conversation still alive and flaring. She talked endlessly about programming languages and software design, while he allowed her the lion's share of speaking time.

Occasionally, she'd have a moment of self-consciousness and stop herself to let him talk. And he'd do so. They'd both changed out of their geek-denoting work clothes, and made themselves presentable for each other.

"The… Square-Cube law?" Matilde said aloud. They'd stopped near the stairs going to the front door of her apartment building. "That's the reason giant bugs don't exist?"

"Can't exist, yes." Keid nodded. "The higher a given number, the more substantial the gap becomes between its squared and cubed value. For two it's just four and eight, but go one higher to three and you've got nine and twenty seven."

"And how does this apply to bugs?"

"It… illustrates, a law which applies to all matter, including bugs. 3-dimensional things like living organisms have to watch out for how big they become. After a certain point in size, six or eight exoskeletal legs become weak sauce compared to vertebrate appendages; crustaceans get away with bug legs thanks to living mostly underwater. The same principle applies to rapid-fire wings compared to fixed-set wings; hummingbirds, and Raptor Zerglings for that matter, can only stick to rapid-fire because they don't get too big."

Matilde's eyes were alight, taking in this analysis of physics. "So one really big ship can carry substantially more cargo than a fleet of smaller ships, but engineering on that scale is a lot more complicated."

He had a smile at this. "Precisely correct, Matilde."

She calmed, looking off a bit and reverting to her more normal mindset. "In a coded world, scale and weight can be determined at will by the designer. They're not tied to each other that way."

"If it doesn't reflect the real world accurately, then it loses something for me." Keid was shrugging.

"But… It is real life." She looked off, a bit more serious now. "It exists, doesn't it? As code; electric signals and light. But these electric signals and this light do exist; we see and hear it, in all its complexity."

"It's an imitation of the real world." He nodded upward. "A virtual world presents the world we know, but in an altered way that makes it easier or more interesting on some level. That's the source of its appeal."

"I disagree." She had a light frown. "That worldview is the reason you'll only ever be mediocre at programming, Keid. It's a world all its own, independent of this one. We're its creators rather than its denizens; it is subject to us rather than we to it, and so it will never be like the real world, and attempting to make it such is an exercise in vanity."

Keid Marchen had a gentle smile. "And that worldview is why you can't be more than a mediocre Physicist, Matilde. You'd rather write the laws than try to decipher them."

She seemed somewhat amused by this. "So in that sense, I'm a lawmaker while you're a lawyer."

"For two separate courts, in two separate countries, on two separate planets." He was lightheartedly defiant.

"Better…" She scrunched down shyly. "To reign in Heaven than serve in Hell."

He laughed briefly at this as he reached into his dark-colored jacket and took out the plastic-encased disc. "You… continue doing that, Matilde. Reign away in your Heaven. I must say farewell to you now." The time was nearing. There was somewhere he needed to be.

She tried to hide her disappointment. A bit of her hair was absentmindedly being fiddled with by her own index finger. "Could we… do this again sometime? I…" Shyness had kicked in, stopping her speaking.

"I really like you too." He said, smiling. "And if I'm able, then certainly."

She unconsciously tried to hide her smile at this. "It's… almost sunup. I'd better retire, now."

"Right, get some sleep, Matilde. I'll see you when I see you."

Her face shifted, coming away from seriousness and turning into a snide look of lighthearted condescension. "Sleep is a forbidden practice, don'cha remember? I need to get changed and head to work in an hour."

He chuckled at this, and turned to leave.

"Keid."

He stopped abruptly, and half turned back to her. "Yes Matilde. What do you require?"

She was quiet for a moment, taking in the fact that he'd responded… "You need to promise me. Promise me I'll see you again."

It took Keid a moment to read her thoughts; the nature of her question. "I… am afraid I can't promise that. You'll see me again if it's possible."

"I knew it." She was frowning. "I wondered why you wanted that program made. You're going to do something dangerous, aren't you?"

"Matilde…"

"Answer me, dammit."

His eyes were shut in a frown. "Matilde, if I… said, if I contended that knowledge; insight and understanding beyond what a normal person had, gave one responsibilities beyond what a normal person would be held to, would you concur?"

"That's a difficult question."

"My answer to it is yes. There's something about to happen, and I'm aware of it in a way that everyone else isn't. Therefore I have to do something."

"What is it?"

"You'll see it on the news, I think. Later today." He turned again to leave.

"I want you to tell me."

"And I want to keep you out of it." His back was to her. "You… understand, don't you?"

"…Yeah, I understand." She looked downward. "You're being an asshole."

His face and posture relaxed as he half-looked back to her. "I'll make it up to you."

"You'd better."

* * *

The Grey Mesa was indeed a grey mesa. It was far away from the densely populated city, located in a vast expanse of dry desert and rocky crags. It was still dark outside, but Saraslha's borrowed Overlord had no trouble seeing.

The Mesa itself was a landmark, a vertical elevation from the ground whose mix of hard sediments produced an unmistakably grey blend. It was extremely broad, the area atop it being a sizable chunk of property all its own. Saraslha sensed a large concentration of energy; an active fusion core atop this mesa, along with the source of the Psionic voice.

" _I'm coming, Broodmother. You won't be a prisoner for much longer."_ Saraslha said. There would undoubtedly be Terrans here, but she'd brought a good number of powerful guards; Rindell's Hunter Killers, as well as the two Cryolisks. If anybody tried to stop her they'd be forced out of the way.

The place was deserted, or nearly so. Saraslha was dropped off, along with her eight Hydralisks and two Cryolisks on a landing pad situated on the high ground. There were clearings and paths of low ground all around her.

There was nobody in sight as she moved briskly down a flight of stairs into a broad natural corridor of stone which remained partially open to the slowly livening early dawn sky.

The source of the voice was near. Its presence was crisp and clear now. Saraslha emerged to a broad clearing in the low ground, and it was there she saw the black, monolith box.

* * *

 **The Present**

The box opened. And the creature inside was revealed. It glowed a radiant blue and white aura. The seams opened more, and it looked nothing like a Broodmother. Saraslha was 5 meters from the box, at its external control console. And she was surprised at the sight.

Its Broodmother features were drowned out by the metamorphosis into a more Protoss shape. Her head remained a large, imposing diadem, and her body had four major appendages, with a swarm of smaller, prehensile tentacles coming out of the nerve concentration up and down her backbone. These tentacles were reinforced with a chain link of hard blade pieces; daggertails, which ran along their entire length and up to the tips.

She was bound at every conceivable point. Thick braces of the same gleaming black alloy as the outside of the container braced around her thicker appendages and mounted onto the wall behind her. The form of the box had opened flexibly as a complex clamshell, but these shackles remained locked. Her smaller tentacles were pinned to the wall behind all along their length.

"You really are a hybrid…" Saraslha said aloud, frozen in place at the control panel. "How?"

" _She stuffed herself full of Protoss essence; from the corpses littering the ship."_ Keid's voice was heard from an overhead loudspeaker. _"Trying, constantly to assimilate it, find a way to stop herself from starving. It didn't work, and she entered hibernation. We at GenTek completed the assimilation process, artificially interweaving Protoss and Zerg biomass; melting together the new body she'd designed for herself."_

The Terran was telling the truth, this meant he might also be right about what she'd do if set free. Saraslha paused the release sequence, freezing the container in place. "Niadra," she said. "What do you intend to do?"

The Hybrid tried to move, pushing against its shackles, moving her head and thick appendages against the binding hold of the metal braces. She was incredibly strong, and the black metal actually began to give; to bend and ply as her strength built up.

And then a sudden shift. The metal braces were moved on mechanized robotics, they suddenly went along with the hybrid's motion, moving her arms, legs and head easily in the directions she wanted to move them, and then pinning her to that new position as they locked again. From this new position, she was forced to rethink the entire spectrum of her shackles' resistances, and re-allocate her buildup of body strength in a changed set of areas.

Saraslha was struck by the creativity of this holding method. If a similar design was used to contain Ultralisks, it would be impossible for them to escape without outside rescue.

" _Don't think you can escape so easily, Niadra."_ The loudspeaker said. _"You get out when queenie down there decides you get out."_

Niadra's shifted head now had Saraslha in its field of vision. The look in her eyes softened at the sight of her. _"Is that… is that you, my Queen? Have you returned?"_

Saraslha quickly connected the dots in her mind. There weren't many Zerg who looked humanoid. "Yet another Queen of Blades fanatic…" She was pinching her forehead. "I swear, I can't take a rock off the ground without unearthing one of you people."

" _You… are not she?"_

"No, I'm not, let's get that clear Niadra." Saraslha was looking up at her eyes. "My name is Saraslha, and us both being humanoid Zerg is the end of my common ground with the Queen of Blades. I'm the next Leader of the Swarm, but I had to earn that, and am still in the process of making myself qualified."

Niadra calmed, relaxing inside the firm grip of her restraints. _"It appears I have been dormant and imprisoned for a long time."_

"I can't let you go unless I know you're going to behave." Saraslha said. "Your being a Hybrid changes a lot of things, and if I don't feel I can trust you, I'm going to have that Terran up there come down here, and re-seal you in that box."

The loudspeaker interjected: _"You must resolve this quickly, Princess Saraslha. Leave this place as soon as possible."_

She frowned, looking up at the control room above he'd gone into. "Why is that?"

" _It is common knowledge that we Terrans are not a unified species. Did you not stop to ask why this place is unguarded? Why you were able to reach the container without resistance?"_

A subtle, terrified chill ran up Saraslha's spine. She looked at the Hybrid, half-released from the container. 'Somebody… plans for you to kill me."

" _A somebody who I know,"_ the loudspeaker said. _"And who always has a plan B for everything he does. I've modified the firmware of the container to be able to lock halfway through the release sequence, and set all surveillance in this compound to loop old footage, but there's nothing I can do about the mercenaries."_

"What do you have to say, Niadra?" Saraslha looked again at her. "You've been changed, but you are still Zerg; my brethren. What is your intent if set free?"

" _I…"_ She trailed. _"My only wish is to serve. I am part of the Swarm; its purpose is my purpose. If you are to be its leader, then I will serve you."_

Saraslha felt elated; her decision had become much easier now. "That's all I need. I welcome you back to the Swarm, Broodmother Niadra."

" _How can you be certain she isn't lying?"_ The loudspeaker said.

She smiled lightly up at the control room. "Something to learn about the Zerg is that we never lie. A considerable weakness to be sure, but what can ya do?" She shrugged as the tapped the button on the touchscreen for the release sequence to continue.

When the sizable, semi-glowing creature was unshackled, it fell to the ground in a kneeling position. Slowly rising, it moved its arms and lower body in all different positions, testing its own range of motion.

"Right then," Saraslha said. "We'd best get out of here before—"

It was an instant; a discomforting briefness of time which it happened, and in which Saraslha had time to react. A long, natural psi blade had formed on the Hybrid's arm, and it came for her neck.

She ducked, bending down, but the blade was quicker. The nerve cords from the top of her scalp were sliced through in an uninterrupted horizontal cut.

Saraslha's senses were a chaotic blur as she came to grips with what had just happened. A severed nerve did not register pain, but there was blood loss, and her psionic sixth sense had become a haze. She touched the ends of her severed cords as she fell to her knees. Not all of them had been cut, but it was a sizable patch. The Hybrid's psi blade was raised, about to finish her off.

Acting on blind instinct, she broadcast a signal, and two of the Hunter-Killer Hydralisks came in front of her and tackled the Hybrid, slamming their mass into it as they clawed and tried to pull it down. Its psi blade had been interrupted from making a lethal strike on Saraslha. The other six Hydralisks in a formation behind Saraslha had primed their heads and fired their razor-sharp projectile spines into the new foe.

"You… sucky… liar!" Saraslha exclaimed as she regained some hazy vision on her mental map. She mentally located the two Cryolisks and had them spray the creature with their freezing compound.

One Hunter-Killer was sliced clean in two, and the other slammed into the ground by the brute force of the Hybrid's other arm. It turned again to Saraslha, forming a shield around itself which absorbed the Hydralisk spines being relentlessly fired into it. Niadra was in focus now, and as the bursts of freezing compound were shot toward her, she redirected them with telekinesis and caused them to pass harmlessly by, freezing sand and rock in the background.

Saraslha was on her feet, stepping backward. She wanted to turn and run, but didn't want to look away from the dangerous creature. As she moved backward, behind another pair of Hydralisks, the Hybrid raised her non-bladed hand, aiming it at Saraslha and concentrating energy into a charging sphere; a projectile attack with more than enough power to kill her, along with anything she could throw in the way to shield herself.

A Hunter Killer rose from the ground behind Niadra; the one she slammed into the ground. Very much alive, it hooked its arm claws over her shoulder and wrapped its prehensile main body around a leg. The energy sphere attack was redirected by this grappling attack at the same instant it was to fire. The shot passed over Saraslha and went into the rock face behind her. The result was a deafening explosion and shattering of the impacted area. The tunnel she'd originally taken into the clearing collapsed.

Sarashla's escape was cut off, and she looked back at the Hybrid Niadra. The Hunter-Killer was still gripped onto her body; she lacked the flexibility to reach it with her psi blade, and it was inside her shields before they were raised. The Hydralisk had maneuvered its head to the side of her neck, and was sinking its teeth into it, having an instinctive knowledge that the neck was typically a vulnerable point.

The Hybrid's many blade-augmented tentacles snapped into prehensile motion from their limp state. They curved around and buried into the Hydralisk's body, lifting it off of her person on a skewer and flinging it aside.

Saraslha found the Overlords through the psionic haze her damaged cords. She summoned them to their location, though she didn't know what good that would do. The Hybrid could easily kill them if they got close.

" _You are but an imitation; a knockoff, of something far greater."_ The Hybrid Niadra advanced toward Saraslha. Two more Hunter Killers were sliced apart as she came closer, backing Saraslha against the collapsed escape route. _"And you say you would rule the Swarm? That is an insult."_ Her head shook. _"I have become so powerful… The Swarm could well become mine."_

"Acting without thinking, with limited, miniscule knowledge." Saraslha said, glaring at Niadra in spite of her helpless predicament. "You've become everything about our race I deem obsolete. Powerful? Don't make me laugh." Saraslha nodded upward. "You're nothing; a pathetic weakling with delusions."

Niadra killed one of the remaining two Hunter Killers with an energy blast; the other was close enough to slice through with her psi blade. She took a few more steps to Saraslha, raising her blade to finish it.

But then the Hybrid was hit from behind, by the two Cryolisks which had run rapidly to a position behind her while she'd been focused on Saraslha. Her shoulders, back and waist area were frozen solid by the cumulative blast of freezing compound. Niadra could barely move while the ice remained intact and the cold remained at that level. She could not finish off Saraslha.

Saraslha dashed forward, straight into the Hybrid, ducking to go under the much taller being's legs. The creature's array of daggertail-augmented tentacles were mostly frozen at their base and limp past the frozen area. She was able to rip one out at the root.

It required many long seconds for the Hybrid to realize, through her pain-free senses, that what kept her from moving was extreme cold, and more long seconds to adapt; to use her newfound psi power to accelerate her body chemistry to compensate, and create heat to counter the cold state. She was quickly able to move again.

Saraslha had already climbed up the Hybrid's back, the severed tentacle chain in hand. She looped it around the creature's neck and was standing on its upper back, holding onto the razor-sharp chain as she leaned away, pulling the loop to close around the neck. The hardened chain of the daggertail came from the Hybrid itself, and was hard enough to tear into the biomass around her neck.

Niadra turned abruptly, but the centrifugal force this applied to Saraslha only tightened the chain around her neck more. More freezing compound struck her from behind. The Cryolisks aimed with precision and deliberation, and avoided hitting Saraslha. Three of the Hybrid's daggertails had unfrozen completely, and she could move them again. The tentacles turned around, and buried into Saraslha's back, running her through.

Saraslha did not exclaim, her teeth became a vicegrip. It was more pain than she'd ever felt in her lifetime. Her body bled, and she felt weak atop the creature's back, barelay able to hold on. "I…" She coughed, and tasted a spat of her own blood in her mouth. "I gave you freedom…"

The daggertails twisted and ground at the sections that went through her body, further damaging her innards. She wanted to scream, but couldn't. The pain was too great; too consuming of her senses. The Cryolisk's jets of liquid began missing again; redirected by Niadra's predictive telekinesis.

And then… rage. "And you repay me with this, you bitch!" She still had the chain around the Hybrid, and snapped the lengths of it that went past her hands. The loose slack stuck into the biomass on the upper arms of the hybrid. Then, with all the energy she could muster, Saraslha leaned forward, past the creature's head, letting go and jumping off a bit as she landed on the ground in front of her.

Niadra re-ignited her psi blade, and brought it down to finish the stabbed, bleeding creature in front of her.

And Saraslha, through all her bleeding and agony, had a smile. "Checkmate, you bitch."

The motion of her blade arm brought the chain with it. It wrapped tighter from being stuck into both of her arms. The stabbing motion caused the chain to constrict around her neck from her own brute strength. And it was too much.

The Hybrid collapsed on the ground, her own neck mostly sliced through. The nerve hub that ran through her neck was still semi-connected, and she jerked and twitched in involuntary spasms.

"That's… what you get." Saraslha saw the now dying creature from her forward prone position, unable to move. "Rindell was never a traitor; Vaus was never a traitor. You earned this… you sucky—" She coughed again, this time with more blood, enough that it spat into the dirt ahead of her face. The pain was too much, and the adrenaline of the moment died down. The world became dark.

* * *

Keid Marchen had an axe, and when he came out to the open ground of the clearing, he gave what was left of Niadra's severed neck a couple of whacks. The head rolled a ways from the body, and the body stopped moving for good.

Next he walked over to Saraslha, lain on the ground. He checked her neck, and felt a faint pulse. The two Cryolisks watched this, but did not get in his way. "Thank sweet merciful god…" He exhaled as his knelt posture slackened with relief. If Saraslha died on Korhal, it would undoubtedly spark a war between the Dominion and Zagara's Swarm.

There was the sound of missile fire, immediate impact, and screams of death from above, out of view of the clearing. He recognized the scream as that of an Overlord, and recognized the missiles as being those used by Vikings in flight mode.

"Shit, shit, shit." He was out of time. Saraslha's limp, unconscious body was actually not very heavy, and he lifted her over his shoulders as he stood with no large amount of effort.

The sound of the mercenary Vikings grew louder as he ran briskly to another door across the clearing. He passed the now empty black container. Just as he was going to reach the powered doors, left in an open state, one of the Cryolisks ran in front of him, blocking his path and staring at him with one beady eye at the side of its head.

"Relax, buddy." He said to it. "Your princess is alive, but she needs to be taken from here."

The creature looked like a rodent, and was the size of a pickup truck. It was of a Zerg classification he'd never seen before. The impact sound of another volley of missiles in the distance caused it to perk its head up, along with its large ears.

"That is the sound of a hundred terrible things coming this way." He said to it. "I planned an escape route. You need to delay them for as long as possible."

The other Cryolisk in the clearing fired into the air. A Viking came down, crash-landing into the clearing due to its engines being seized up from the cold. It was also unable to transform. The Cryolisk which had been blocking Keid's path went past him into the clearing as well, joining the action with its partner as more aircraft became visible.

Keid saluted them with a free hand as he went into the doorway with Saraslha over his shoulders. It shut behind him.


	10. The Princess and the Serpent

My eyes remained shut as I slowly regained consciousness. The shredding pain from being impaled by Niadra's tentacles had reduced itself to an ache. I felt myself sat in a chair; it felt cushy, like the one in my Viking on Char. Light, consistent vibration; that of a fast-moving vehicle could be felt all around me, but no air blew in my face.

"Niadra… you sucky jerk…" The words escaped me as my hand wandered up. Several of my nerve cords had been cut by Niadra, and I couldn't sense a thing through the blur this caused to my sixth sense. But they no longer bled. My fingers found metal; small clamping bands which had been tightened around the ends of the cut cords, clotting them and preventing blood from escaping.

My eyes opened. I was in the passenger's seat of a car, which drove along a dirt trail in the desert and was approaching the giant skyline of Augustgrad. I knew who the driver was, but didn't want to look his way. The Terran from the Grey Mesa, who tried to lecture me about Niadra and thought he was oh, so freaking smart. My face couldn't help but snarl. I wouldn't talk to him, there was no way I would talk to him. He was totally right about everything and tried to warn me about it, but that only made me more annoyed. I'm the next Overqueen! -My chin muscles tensed- A Terran had no place telling me what was up and down in the world.

I hoped he wouldn't speak, because it would undoubtedly be about how right he was or some predictable junk. Don't say anything… Don't say anything… He did say something:

"It's always something else to see the real thing in person."

Of the list of things I expected he might say, this was not one of them. "What real thing?" I blurted, but then chided myself silently. I wouldn't talk to him. He was gonna get the silent treatment and that was that.

"The Zerg's capacity for self-repair. You've only been out twenty minutes, and have almost completely healed." He was looking over at me from the driver's seat.

I only slightly looked his way, staring from the corner of my eye.

He continued: "Granted, I've seen it all the time on the tissue level; studying your people in a lab. But to see it actually happen in a real situation, that is of far greater value."

"Why is it more valuable?" Dammit! I talked to him again. What is wrong with me?

"Because of demonstration. The best way to accrue data is seeing a given principle acting itself out in the world; in life. Throw your prototype to the wolves of particles, life forms and temperatures unplanned for."

"Yeah… Like how I got the trait for my Pyrolisks to survive their own chemical mix. I threw thousands of bugs into a chamber of it and forced them to adapt." I couldn't resist. He was talking about a thing that interested me, and it wasn't about what happened on the Mesa.

"Tell me more about your Pyrolisks." I heard him say simply, looking ahead to the road.

Yet another unexpected thing to say. "Whaddya mean by that? What about my Pyrolisks?"

"My information tanks are thirsty." He had a bright, alive look, staring ahead. "Talk about them, go on a tangent, build a narrative- I want to hear interesting things. I want to process them."

He didn't shrug, and say dismissively that he was simply curious. This guy was for real. I wanted to shoot my mouth off. I wanted to talk about my work, but then I stopped myself; a new concern had surfaced in my mind. "I want you to tell me… about the person who tried to have me killed."

He shifted his posture and facial expression at this changing of subjects. "His name is David Kuraski, the head of GenTek and my boss."

"If he's your boss then why'd you throw a wrench in his gears?" It made no sense to me. Such a thing was disloyal, and only lunatics like Niadra were capable of disloyalty.

"Because whatever reason he has to start a war with the Zerg, I certainly don't share that reason. I lived through the previous wars and let me tell you: It sucked."

This was typical Terran lack of communication. It disturbed me really, that among the Terrans an underling could simply choose to do something contrary to their leader's wishes. Even the Primal Zerg whom lacked the hive mind would find such a thing unthinkable. "So I take it now you're going to be hounded, hunted and killed for your betrayal, yes?"

"Only if you rat me out." He said naturally, easily. "His people have no way of knowing it was me. I'm off all the surveillance footage, and my access point into the system was blasted with a bomb; fingerprints and all."

"And you're just going to show up for work, at the same time as everyone else, like nothing happened?"

"That's the plan."

"You're a dirty, rotten traitor." I couldn't help but say it. The idea of a traitor; somebody pretending to be loyal but then cheating on that principle. It bugged me in a deep place.

"A traitor to a man who is out to kill you. And my act of betrayal being helping you survive his attempt."

"Don't get me wrong: This Kuraski guy has made himself my enemy and he'll get what's coming to him. But he's not a traitor. You are and I'm going to judge you for it."

"Judge all you please, Princess. Condemn all you please. All I ask is you not get your arrogant little ass killed."

The nerve of this guy! Even Emperor Valerian didn't talk to me this way. Who did this low-level grunt think he was? Showing such disrespect. My ass was **not** little, dammit… "You're doing a fine job," I countered in a sarcastic tone. "Did you perhaps think to yourself to open with 'there's a freaking Hybrid in that box' rather than 'don't do it'?"

I saw him reach back with his free hand, and pull an empty black cylinder case from the back seat. He handed it at me and I caught it. It was very light and felt empty. "There's lightning in that bottle." He said. "If you pull the cap off, it'll come out and electrify you."

I would have laughed at his joke if it was a little more creative. Without hesitation I pulled the cap off the case. It was empty, containing nothing but air.

"I believe I've made my point."

What..? "But there really isn't lightning in this. You lied."

"And there wasn't really a Hybrid in the box, I lied. That is until you went and opened the thing."

Dammit! I just did the exact same thing I did with Niadra's box. "Well aren't you just a clever little Terran?"

"Not an argument." He was shaking his head.

"This doesn't win you anything." My face twisted, annoyed. "I'm still a real person while you're a traitor."

"Petty." He looked indifferent.

"Stop talking down to me!" I was crushing the armrest in my grip as the city came closer in view. "I'm the Crown Princess of the Zerg Swarm."

"An irrational assertion of self-worth, your majesty."

"Shut up. Just shut your freaking mouth!" My foot kicked through the dashboard in front of me, knocking a large hole in its blend of plastic and metal.

"Princess, please!" His tone was not pleading. It was hard and deep. I looked his way, glaring.

"…I like this car." His tone softened as he said this.

I sighed, getting myself together. My damaged nerve cords were throbbing and funny-feeling, and my temper not in a good place. "I… apologize, for damaging your vehicle." My foot pulled itself out of the hole it punched. I was looking away, holding my forehead and staring out the passenger's window.

"It's all good." He said. "When somebody asks why there's a hole in the dash, I can tell them that you rode in that very seat and threw a fit." He chuckled a bit. "Maybe one day a museum will accept it: In her younger days, the great Zerg Overqueen rode in this very car, and here she lost her temper and kicked a hole in the dashboard. 'Twas a significant moment in History."

I laughed a bit, the humor punching through my somber mood. "Your people would actually be interested in that kind of thing?"

"Oh yes. We Terrans eat that stuff up. Kings and Queens and Presidents; they piss on the sidewalk and everybody marvels; tries to comprehend the grand design behind such an action."

He was telling me a ludicrous trait of his people like it was funny and not a weakness. I couldn't help but be disarmed yet again. This guy was a dirty rotten traitor to his organization, but he was an entertaining dirty rotten traitor. "Maybe I should take it a step up, and piddle on a light post."

"They'll talk about it for centuries to come, and never realize that you were just messing with them."

I wanted to laugh at this, but kept it down to a smile. "You can bill me for the repairs."

"That's quite alright, Lady Saraslha."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself. Once we're in the city you can drop me off at the Zerg Embassy, and that'll be that." We were on an asphalt road now, and approaching the city proper.

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Okay, Human." I still had my lighthearted smile. "Your jokes are getting poor again."

"No, I mean, I could drive right up to the Embassy and let you out, but that'd be a bad idea."

"Explain."

"Imagine that you're David Kuraski, and you want you dead. You just got a report from your mercs that the Princess' body was nowhere to be found at the Compound; that she was alive and had escaped. What would you do?"

"Tell my mercs that they screwed up big time. Seriously, they had one job."

He rolled his eyes slightly. "Okay, and after that?"

"Oh, I'd send some people –my best— to wait near the target's most likely next destination and kill her when she shows up there." As I said this aloud, the dots connected in my head. "I… think its best we not drive right up to the Embassy… Or the Palace." I had a hapless grin.

"Good idea."

"This shouldn't be so complicated. I just have to get back to Izsha, or Rindell."

"How's contacting them psionically?"

"Like finding needles in a haystack made of needles." I explained. "This city has so many conscious minds, and they're all so loud." I was almost glad my nerve cords had been damaged. It made the titanic volume of voices blur out and dampen.

"I don't understand. The vast majority of Terrans are non-psychics."

"Doesn't matter. A mind is a mind is a mind. Zerg are simple and compliant, but Humans…" I shook my head. "They can't hear us, but we can sure as hell hear them. I originally learned to build psi-insulators for Izsha's sake. She has one, and for all I know she's wearing the thing right now and there's no way to contact her."

"What about the Broodmother you landed with?"

"Rindell…" I thought about it. "Is no doubt being watched. If Kuraski was crafty enough to stage my death at Niadra's hands, then he definitely knows to tap every lead."

"And I don't suppose you carry anybody's number with you, or a clearance code, to prove to the Palace that you're not just some prank caller."

I didn't have anything of the sort. "It's settled," I said. "I'm staying at your place tonight."

"My little economy apartment?" He sounded incredulous. "It's quite unfit for royalty. Besides, GenTek definitely knows where I live."

"Your safe little economy apartment." I clarified. "You go to work on time like nothing happened, you won't be suspect and your apartment will be one of the last places in the city they look for me. From there, I can plot Kuraski's downfall."

"It's a man cave." He said. "I don't even bother to make my bed."

"Then it undoubtedly has a computer, and a workbench. It'll suit my purposes nicely."

"Whatever you say, Princess." He slowed to enter a roundabout intersection. Every car in the ring-shaped road drove around until coming to their desired exit. "You win."

I smiled, pleased with myself. "I always win."

"What do you want from Starmoose?" The car was pulling into the drive-thru of a small building with a giant ornamental donut on its roof, along with the silhouette of an antlered moose head.

"That's the coffee franchise, yes?" I asked rhetorically. "You're doing a dangerous thing helping me, could end up dead, but you still have the presence of mind to drink some coffee."

He shrugged as the car pulled up to a microphone booth. "I was up all night, and I'm about to go back to work. Pick your poison, princess."

"One liter of espresso, and two boxes of sugar donuts."

He turned to order and was speaking into the booth, but then snapped his head back, his brow crooked. "They don't serve by the liter."

"Well I want one liter." My arms were crossed.

He turned back to the microphone booth. "One extra large espresso and one small, two boxes of sugar donuts, and… a medium espresso for me." He put his index and middle fingers on a biometric scanner on the booth. _"Account identified."_ Said a text font on the booth's screen.

He drove past the microphone around to the pickup window. I was quizzical. "One extra large and one small adds up to a liter?" I asked.

"Almost precisely, assuming they're both filled three quarters of a centimeter from the brim."

"Dang, you do that in your head?"

"It's plain to know, once you've held the cups a lot." He accepted a container with three coffee cups, and then two sizable cardboard boxes which he handed to me.

I opened the top box and grabbed a donut. It was sweet and delicious and I inhaled it like a Zergling quitting its diet. After eating several more, I grabbed the extra large espresso and gulped it. The donuts in the box got no reprieve, though, as I turned right back to eating them.

"Wow, look at you go…" The Terran was once again driving along the urban roads of Augustgrad.

"Keid, you're still a dirty rotten traitor." I said with my mouth full of donut. "But now you're up a notch, you're a dirty rotten traitor who got me donuts and coffee. That counts for something."

"That's such a relief." He said with a detached tone, not meaning it. "I was beginning to think there was no redemption for me, but then hey: donuts."

"I'm quite the bribable future overqueen." I was smirking. "If you weren't a dirty rotten traitor, this would have made you my best friend."

He had his medium cup in an off hand, rolling his eyes with a light smile. "And what about helping you get out of your predicament and stick it sideways to Kuraski? How much does that count toward?"

"It counts toward making you a dirty rotten traitor, of course."

He took a deep, patient inhale, then exhaled, sagging slightly. "There's no winning with you, is there?"

"Nope! There isn't."

* * *

The document laid in front of Emperor Valerian was several pages thick. At the bottom of the front page there were two places for signatures to be written. The document was an international trade agreement. The first signature was meant to be his, and the second…

He turned on his chair, toward Matt Horner, who was pacing feverishly. "We need a plan of action, Matthew." They were alone together in the empty, quiet conference hall. Fresh morning light poured in from the open terrace past the stairway beyond the table.

"Let's go with what we know…" Matt said, still pacing, though slower now.

"What we know…"

"Somebody tipped off the garrison office as to hostilities out in the wastes. They sent a force and found not only a secret compound hidden off the grid, but a dead Hybrid, a bunch of dead Zerg which match the profiles of those which rode in with the Princess, and an array of wrecked mercenary equipment. Then to top it off, several severed nerve cords on the ground which Izsha guarantees are Saraslha's. We currently have no idea where she is or what she's doing, and her life could be in danger."

"What should I say to Zagara?" The Emperor leaned back in his seat, trying to vent out the stress. "More importantly, what should I omit?" He had become accustomed to being open when alone with Admiral Horner. The man was so good natured and incorruptible he felt like he could trust him with anything.

"The Overqueen's daughter has human traits, human flaws and human rationality. She's our best chance of creating an actual, lasting peace with the Zerg." Matt was standing in place, at the side of Valerian's field of vision. He shook his head. "We have to tell the whole truth."

"As in we don't know where she is. She could be dead."

"As in she went to the Zerg embassy, wandered off from there and we can't locate her."

Valerian was nodding. "This shifts the accountability to their ambassador. I like this story."

"It won't mean anything if something happens to her. That's why I've lined up an asset to handle the situation."

"Who did you…" Just then the projector activated in the center of the table. The projection was of Izsha. She spoke right away: "Emperor Valerian. Broodmother Zagara is on the line, and she wishes to speak with you."

Valerian looked over at Matt, who nodded from off-view of the projector's lens, then raised a fist in encouragement. He turned toward the projection again, and took a deep breath, inflating his cheeks as he exhaled. "Very well, Ambassador. Patch her through."

The faster-than-light communicator switched images to an even less humanoid being. Zagara was not much bigger than the average Broodmother, nevertheless her intelligence and power dwarfed theirs.

Valerian had spoken with her on many occasions before, and knew her to be always direct, getting straight to the matter at hand and not wasting time. This was the kind of person he liked. If Zagara was human he'd want someone like her in his staff. "I assume the purpose of your call—"

" _Yes, how is my daughter doing? Not causing too much trouble I hope."_ Zagara's tone and speech pattern was chipper and almost jolly. She did this a lot; observing human social behaviors and emulating them perfectly. Valerian was constantly reminded that the Swarm was culturally monochromatic, and could be easily impressed upon by outside ideas.

"Saraslha is missing." He said straight to her. "She wandered off from the embassy. The bodies of several of her guards, as well as severed nerve cords belonging to her were found in an obscure research compound well outside the city limits."

" _Izsha told me a very similar story. I appreciate your curtness, Emperor."_ Zagara was calm, placing one hand atop the other. _"And I'm not concerned nor upset. Interested, certainly. But not upset."_

"What..?" Valerian had to wrap his mind around this. "She's your child, and she could be in danger."

" _She is my successor. Do you think I made that decision lightly, or because she wasn't strong and deadly? Her enemies are the ones in danger. It is they who should be counting on rescue."_

"You…" he rubbed his temple, an elbow on an armrest. "Have a lot of faith in her, don't you."

Zagara nodded at this. _"She turned one of the Swarm's most promising Broodmothers into her loyal servant, and defeated a Cerebrate whom even your father, the Earth fleet, and the Protoss individual whom one day became Hierarch all simultaneously lost against. I will not ignore her merits out of caring or insecurity."_

"The Dominion is not a succinctly uniform or perfectly organized empire, Overqueen." Valerian said, intent now. "If an element of our society wishes her death, there are a vast array of assets they might call upon to attain that goal."

" _That is a compelling point, Emperor."_ Zagara stated. _"If my daughter is at war, then the deck may well be stacked against her."_

"I'm going to do everything on my power to locate and secure her." He continued saying. "I will update you personally as soon as she is found."

Zagara was quiet. She was looking downward, thinking deeply. _"Korhal is your world, and I will not presume to instruct you on activities pertaining to it…"_

This was body language Valerian was familiar with. Zagara was calculating. Viewing the situation and the options available in light of the pieces on the board. "I understand the situation must feel exacerbating—"

" _Saraslha has brought the trade deal to your attention, has she not?"_

Valerian turned to Matt, who just shrugged from off screen, shaking his head. "Ah… yes, she has." Valerian answered as he turned back to the projection.

" _I wish to get that underway immediately. My ambassador, Izsha, may be considered to have signing powers to whatever documentation is required on your end."_

This move surprised Valerian. He expected Zagara to be angry, or at least not open to talks. "You are aware of the specifics of this deal?"

" _It was originally my idea."_ Zagara sounded slightly defensive. _"Saraslha joined halfway through the planning. She previously wanted to destroy you and enslave your people."_

Valerian was used to a lack of directness when talking to peers. He felt simultaneously relieved by Zagara's openness, and at the same time discomforted by the content of that openness. He thought Saraslha was the peace loving one. "And what about Saraslha? Signing papers hardly seems proper when her life could be in danger."

" _Oh, Let her have her fun. I ask only that she be judged fairly for any actions taken on your world."_

Valerian found this to be incomprehensible, but his poker face endured. "Very well, Overqueen."

" _If you'll excuse me…"_ Zagara ended the connection, and the projection went back to Izsha. _"Broodmother Zagara has instructed me to sign for the trade deal in Saraslha's stead. Our first shipment of Zeta Compound is underway; two cargo freighters are en route to Dominion Space, their contents to be distributed to pre-arranged clientele."_ The transmission ended, not waiting for a reply.

Valerian Mengsk blinked several times, coming to grips with the outcome of his conversation.

"That didn't go too badly, considering…" Matt Horner trailed.

"You said you lined up an asset for finding the Zerg Princess." Valerian snapped back into focus, tightening a glove on his hand as he stood on his feet, facing Horner.

"That is correct. I think this person is a perfect fit for the mission. He's very… adaptable."

"Well then… who'd you get?"

* * *

"That's all we know on the Grey Mesa, sir. The Princess' body was nowhere to be found."

David Kuraski was walking briskly through a tall, arched corridor of a lavish aesthetic and cleanliness. Walking beside him was a task buffer; a messenger whom carried information by untraceable word of mouth. "What about the specimen?" He asked, still walking. The building they were in was his corporate headquarters. There were no wrong people present to overhear their conversation.

"Our people were able to move its remains before the Dominion garrison arrived on the scene. They're safely preserved at the Olympus facility."

"Whomever tampered with our surveillance cameras at the Mesa, must also have tipped off the authorities." Kuraski was intent, upset but not frowning, as if to mock the expectation that he should be frowning. "It had to be one of our own."

"I concur, sir."

"Go and find Karla." Kuraski appeared relaxed. "Tell her I want a mole hunt conducted on all GenTek holdings in Augustgrad."

"I'm on it." The task buffer turned and moved in the other direction.

David Kuraski rounded a corner and reached a row of double doors with armed security guards posted beside them. Every door in the row led to the same place; an auditorium. He went through, and came to a backroom out of view of the hall proper. The area was filled with staff.

"I'm glad you're here, sir." He was greeted by a mid-level executive holding a tablet and glancing at it constantly. "Our stocks are a shit show waiting to happen, and the Board wants to know why the hell you're holding a press conference."

"The Grey Mesa was going to be uncovered sooner or later." David Kuraski said, glancing sideways at the executive. "In this scenario, it manages to be overshadowed by the missing princess story." An aide came up to him, examining him head to toe with powder puffs and eyebrow trimmers ready in the hands of another aide.

"The crowd out there is a kennel of hungry dogs, ready to ask some hard questions." The executive stated. "Hundreds of millions of views across three major networks and a dozen minor ones. Our shareholders are watching as well."

"And it's all in my hands." Kuraski was intent, almost smiling as the satisfied aide failed to find an issue with his appearance. He never left his home ungroomed. "It could hardly be more ideal."

"You really know how to set yourself up." The Executive remarked.

"A correction, my dear Flint. I set it all up around myself." He headed out, walking around the curtain wall and onto the broad visibility of the auditorium's stage. Large video cameras had taken every conceivable sniping position on the podium in the center, and a vast crowd filled the viewing area. This titanic concentration of attention was a non-factor to Kuraski as he took the podium as naturally as he would stand in front of a mirror above the sink. "Thank you all for coming." He said into the microphone. "Let's go straight to questions." A huge volly of hands shot into the air. "Yes, you." He pointed to one.

"Mister Kuraski." It was a male reporter in a reddish brown suit. "How do you respond to the allegation of GenTek's unlawful weapons research?"

Kuraski's hand was raised in a pace and timing as though it was always there. "The integrity, of significant entities such as GenTek will always be tried under the prying eyes of the Emperor, and of the people." A gentle sweeping motion with his raised hand. "I welcome such analysis."

"Have you answered my question?" The reporter followed up.

"Yes I have." He stated smoothly with a light nod. "And that will always be my answer to such… allegations." The emphasis on the word allegation and its definition caused a light hum of laughter to inflate in the room before settling immediately again. "Yes, you." He was focused, indicating another raised hand.

"Mister Kuraski. What do you make of the Zerg Princess last being seen on the Grey Mesa? What would be her motivation for being there?"

"No GenTek staff were present at the Grey Mesa during the incident in question." Kuraski said. "The entire compound is now under investigation. I have the fullest faith in Dominion law enforcement to uncover the facts of what happened, and administer justice accordingly. We are giving them our full cooperation." He picked another reporter.

She lowered her hand. "What is your take on the Ze—"

"I wish to say further," Kuraski interrupted, displaying a more somber mood. "That I fervently hope for the safety of the young princess, that she is found posthaste and able to return to her people. It would be… a terrible tragedy, were she to lose her life on our throne world." His eyes were shut, in a crinkled frown with his head lowered slightly.

He had guessed the reporter's question before it was even asked. She had no further questions.

He indicated a fresh reporter, whom lowered her hand. "Kate Lockwell, UNN." She calmly introduced herself. "Mister Kuraski, why were all GenTek staff removed from the Compound at the time of the incident involving the Zerg Princess?"

He became intent at this question. It was based on a factoid he'd dropped in this very conference. "The facilities there did not require around-the-clock manning. Its secrecy served its security needs." He continued peering ahead. "As for the facility itself being kept secret, a large part of Gentek's productivity relies on confidentiality and sanctity of private informat—"

"Furthermore." Lockwell cut him off. "What exactly was contained in this compound… to cause the deaths of multiple Zerg warriors, whose bodies were found on site?" A din arose of murmuring in the hall.

Kuraski's poker face was solid, but on the inside he had a solid glare. There was no way this woman could have obtained that information so soon by any legal means. And there was no way he could answer the question without revealing his Hybrid specimen or the mercenaries he'd sent there.

And then, on the inside, he had an alive grin. Enclosed, threatened, this press conference had become a battle more than a routine. "Why indeed..?" He asked aloud in a perfectly sincere tone. "I don't know."

"You don't know the workings of assets inside your own company." Lockwell followed bluntly.

"My ignorance manifests on what lies outside of GenTek. But I digress…" He inhaled, acting bored with the subject. "I'm not here to project assumptions as to whatever forces came to the Grey Mesa at that time, what they did and how. I place my faith and cooperation in Dominion law enforcement and their investigation on the matter. As should we all." He gave Kate Lockwell a firm look as he said this.

"Of course Mister Kuraski, thank you." She backed down.

* * *

"You're a slippery little bugger aren't you, Mister Kuraski?" I had a huge slate computer in front of me on the long, heightened bar. I sat cross-legged on the same elevated surface. It was a pleasantly cold sheet of stainless steel. I was watching Kuraski's press conference live. He was the bugger who tried to have me killed, and it never hurts to scout the enemy.

I was in the apartment of the dirty rotten traitor who helped me. He said to make myself at home and went into one of the rear rooms with an armload of folded clothes. I heard a bit of running water from behind the door. When he came out, his scent had become weaker, and his clothes clean. "You'd better hurry and scram to GenTek." I said to him. "Your cover is my cover."

"I've got some time yet." He said, standing in front of a wall mirror and fixing his raven hair with his fingers.

"I watched a live press conference with your boss." I said, nodding upward. "Why'd you start working for the guy to begin with? He's a slithering serpent from hell."

"It's a long story."

"What, are you dating one of your coworkers?"

"As a matter of fact, I am."

"You could have quit anyway." I watched him deliberately, methodically put the finishing touches on his hair. "A strong relationship can roll with a few punches, right?"

"The internship at GenTek was my ticket out of poverty. After learning and advancing up the ranks, I made it to a comfortable living. I suppose because of that I felt… loyal." He walked to my right, behind the bar to where the fridge and sink and cupboards were. He opened the fridge.

"Your brain must be a mess, human." I sniped. "Suggesting that you're loyal in any way."

"Ah, the traitor jab again." He said in a light, easy tone as he shut the fridge again, continuing in the direction of the door out. "Pretty hard-pressed to find something else to jab me with, aren't you?"

"Hmph," I nodded upward, turning on my seating posture to track his motion past me. "When I find faults, I point them out. Is this discomforting?"

He stopped, and looked back at me. His face had a small, gentle smile. "No. Say whatever you please of me, Princess." He walked toward the door again, no longer looking at me. "Just make certain to spell my name correctly."

"Stop."

He stopped, not looking back. I moved my mouth, but had trouble forming what I wanted to say, flustered somewhat by his reply. "I… need you to pick up some things. While you're out." I hopped off the counter with a notepad in hand. I'd written everything down already. He turned around halfway and accepted the pad as I handed it to him.

With his back turned again, he read the list briefly. "Twenty five kilograms of sugar, a bolt of purple velvet and five liters of liquid nitrogen…" His voice faded out as he silently read the rest of the list.

"Can you get all of that?"

"Yes…" He trailed absently. Then he looked back at me. "There's already an Auto 9 in my gun safe. It's yours and I'm crossing it off the list."

I was getting the Auto 9 already, and this made me grin with excitement. "You have one? But you're…" I examined him up and down. He wore a white coat with a black turtleneck and slacks. "A sciency-looking person."

His finger raised, and he silently wheeled around and walked past me back into the apartment. I followed. "More than half the male population of the Dominion has seen military service at some point. For females it's around thirty percent."

"You're a scientist but you used to be a soldier." I shook my head, "That thing called the draft, yes?"

"Not just faffing about in a CMC suit..." He'd walked across the main kitchen and living room on either side and then opened an indoor door. "There was also SCV duty, and before that, when you're a refugee, you have to fight off bandit raids and make the looters piss off. Like I said: The wars sucked."

"It just seems like a jarring comparison. If you can do brain work, then what were you doing aiming a gun at things?"

He'd taken us to the bedroom, turned and stopped in front of a tall metal vault against the wall. He began turning the combination dial. "Terrans aren't born into their roles."

"Your Emperor was."

He laughed briefly at this. "Perhaps, but if he wasn't good at it he'd be out on his royal arse tomorrow." The safe door swung open, revealing a tightly packed array of stowed weapons. Cardboard boxes containing ammunition were stacked on the bottom. He took out a large, heavy pistol and offered it to me handle first. "One Auto 9 machine pistol for the Lady Saraslha."

I'd always wanted one of these, but was never able to find one online that wasn't priced like an antique. My eyes were beads as I accepted the weapon and aimed it forward toward the window, holding it with both hands. I was stronger than the average human, yet still the sizable sidearm felt heavy. "I wanna shoot it so bad…" My thoughts became my speech seamlessly. I knew I couldn't. A gunshot was high profile and I had to keep mine low. Suddenly I remembered Keid standing there and turned to him, aiming the weapon safely downward. "Are you..? Is this…"

"Yes, it's yours." He said naturally, nodding lightly. "I'm not in the shape to use it, it could do for a new owner."

My own Auto 9… I looked at the weapon lain on my palms. My face became a simpering smile. "I'm so happy…"

"Hey…" I looked him in the eye when he spoke. "Don't go viewing it as a bribe. I'm still a dirty rotten traitor… okay?" He was smiling as he said this.

"Right… right!" I nodded affirmatively. "You have a job to do, Doctor Marchen."

"That I do." He turned and walked to the door out of the apartment, holding up the notepad as I watched him leave. "I'll be back sometime this evening. Do as you please with my home and its effects." He'd left the gun safe open.

"Be sure to get everything else on that list, ya dirty rotten traitor!" I had a grin as I said this.

"As Her Brattiness commands." He wheeled around next to the door, and made a flamboyant bow in my direction before opening the door and walking out, shutting it behind him.

 _Her Brattiness…_ I smirked. He made a good attempt trying to stick me with that nickname. But my mental barriers were a solid bastion after my experience with _Little Princess._ He'd have to up his game.

There was my war with Kuraski to be seen to. I was confined to this hiding place; showing my face on the streets would draw massive attention, and by extension the assassins whom I know Kuraski sent on a hunt to find me, because that's exactly what I would do in his position. I went back to my sitting spot atop the kitchen bar with the slate computer still on. My eye was on the door ahead, if somebody knocked it through I'd unleash hell on them with my new Auto 9. An ordinary human would need to be in powered armor to handle its recoil; it wasn't as much a problem for me.

My mind went to my mother. She undoubtedly knew I was missing, and I knew her well enough to know that she would not act rashly or in a way that exacerbated the situation and put me in greater danger. She was a Zerg, and one thing the Zerg exhibited more than any other culture was ruthless, efficient pragmatism.

With this in mind, I logged into my personal credit account. It had been formed years ago for the purpose of ordering parts for my Viking and other projects. When I saw my account balance, I grinned. Mother knew I was at war, and she'd sent the reinforcements I needed in the most efficient and subtle of ways. A transfer had been made to my account of a hundred million credits. She'd gone through with the trade deal without me, and sent me a good chunk of the sales revenue from the first shipment.

War funds! Mother was so very considerate. I proceeded to make sure the IP address here was masked. With that covered, I opened a deep web browser and went to a lovely site which brokered in mercenary contracts.

* * *

"This is who you got, Admiral Horner…" Emperor Valerian beheld the person before them. "You're serious."

"I am serious." Matt Horner replied. "He knows what Saraslha looks like… and what she smells like." They were in a large hangar which was part of the Palace. It docked a number of shuttles and dropships. The person Horner had gotten was several meters away, standing there, and a contingent of armed guards had been pulled into the hangar as a precaution.

"Yes…" His voice was gravel-like and alien, and stopped briefly after each word. "I, am now, mercenary. I, complete, job. I, collect, payment." He was a towering blue Zerg; a full head taller than any Terran, with one good arm, and another which had regrown too small and in the wrong place.

Valerian stepped forward, his hands clasped behind his back. "What brings you Terran Space, Zerg?"

"I, am, Dehaka. I was driven, from Zerus. Injured…" He growled lightly. "By pursuers. Picked up by, Terran mercenaries. Now mercenary. Now leader of mercenary group. Now, I collect essence, and I collect payment." His armor-shelled head waggled a bit as he described this.

"That hardly seems believable. Why would a Zerg join a mercenary group, much less lead it?"

"I, am like water. I, adapt. I, change. I, collect."

Valerian was snuck up upon by the revelation that Horner had found the perfect person for the job. "You know who Saraslha is, correct?"

"Zagara's, daughter. Curious being. Frail. Collects, knowledge."

Valerian nodded. "She's somewhere on Korhal. Your job is to find her, and ensure her safety by any means necessary. Your advance payment has already been transferred. Upon her safe return to Zerg-controlled space, you will be paid the rest."

"Bodyguard work… Twenty percent advance… generous. Will, perform, job." He turned to leave. One of the dropships docked in the hangar was his.

"One more thing, Dehaka."

He stopped, and turned. "Yes..?"

Valerian had an almost death-threatening glare. "Loss of any civilian life is to be avoided. Is that understood? No collateral damage, no firing into crowded streets. If they don't have a weapon, you don't hurt them."

Dehaka processed this. "Will… exercise, restraint."

"Splendid." His face became calm again, almost blank. He turned and left, and Dehaka continued doing the same. The guards dispersed. Matt Horner went with the Emperor. "Matthew, I'm hesitant to ask where you find these people."

They went through a powered door. "It didn't say anywhere on the merc group's profile that Dehaka was a Zerg. But I recognized the name."

"A Zerg mercenary…" Valerian was frowning with quizzical thought at this. "Are we going to start seeing Zerg doctors and accountants next? What if Saraslha's next big boat rocker is an immigration treaty?"

"Saraslha had nothing to do with Dehaka becoming a mercenary." Horner said. "After all the fighting, all the animosity between the different species… now that there's a long break from it; now that we're finally out of reasons to kill each other, interactions other than fighting are inevitably going to come up."

"It's still… somewhat unthinkable." The Emperor was looking downward as they walked together. "The Protoss I understand. They're rational, their civilization is far ahead of ours in every respect. But the Zerg…"

"Are a wildcard. Frames of reference aren't going to help us."

"You're right… There are a lot of our own people who would embrace another war with the Zerg. They want to wipe them out for good, purging the Koprulu Sector of their presence forever. And after all the destruction they caused us, can we blame them? Can we blame any Protoss who are of similar mind?"

"We have to be the ones who look past that, Valerian. A better tomorrow won't be found by only looking backward."

"A better tomorrow…" Valerian quoted. "I hear you say that a lot, and every time I think: 'how naïve.'"

"I won't refute that it's naïve." Horner's face peered upward, at the ceiling of the corridor they walked. "What you'll never be able to call it, however, is improper."


	11. The Olympus Facility

I had reached my goal; the greatest threat to my plans and my victory. An opportunity had presented itself, to catch the target off-guard and crush it in a dormant state. Plans had been laid and carried out by my underlings. Battles had been fought, information gathered. And now I was here, to personally see that its destruction was carried out. Keid had advised me not to put myself at risk. But the truth is I am always at risk. I tend to lead from the rear, and this has proven to be a wise policy. But I think for myself and I do as I please. The importance of my life will not transform me into a coward.

I was indoors, and the vast metallic dome overhead was like an artificial sky in its dark and blue hue. And overhead me was my target; my trophy prize. It was a machine suspended from the ceiling. Cables and tubes ran into it and came out of it, connecting its superstructure to computer systems and high capacity power conduits. Construction arms giant and small surrounded it from the high walls and dome-like ceiling, which were all inactive in their static grip on the machine. The target itself was immense in scale. In its closed, dormant state even its outside anatomy was difficult to know.

I turned to one of my allies. He was normally cloaked; concealed from detection, but in this moment his dark face, thick mane of dreadlocks and black and red environment suit were visible as day. He was a Spectre; an alternative, modified version of the Terran Ghost. "It's time to go to work, Tosh." His Spectres were all over the place, hidden and covering us.

"Where you be wantin' me?" He spoke in a low, distinct and dispassionate tone that was vaguely accented. "My rifle be but a pea shooter 'gainst that thing."

I tsked at this. "Keid is taking another entrance. He's going to tap into the docking support systems and try to overload its central brain with a directed surge."

"He 'tinks Gentek's big, bad weapon can be killed wit' a little electricity?"

I just shrugged at this perfectly fair question. "I asked the same thing, and he went into technical speak about arcing around an unexpressed axis and pre-timed temporary dispersions which can bypass its surge protection." At that point I'd raised a hand and said _'fine, just get it done.'_ Suddenly I remembered that Tosh asked where I wanted him. "I want you to find a vantage point on this main floor. If security shows up, you and your Spectres are to shoot on sight."

Without a word, the Spectre vanished, becoming a glowing red wireframe as his cloaking activated. He was quickly rendered invisible.

Gabriel Tosh was one of the strongest psychics I'd ever met, human or otherwise. His contract had a steep price, but his troops were a contingent of extremely useful Spectres, and his track record was beyond solid. After our first few conversations I'd actually come to like him. He was my kind of guy. When, as is my habit whenever I meet a strong human psychic, I offered to make him a Broodmother he simply laughed and said he'd consider it.

I pulled out a handheld radio and held the transmit button. "Talk to me, Rook Team. Have you got an ETA? Over." On the other end was the commander of another group of mercs on my payroll. This one being a larger force of more regular troops. Mercenary Goliaths, Marauders, Marines and Siege Tanks. They had heavier hardware than my Spectres, and maybe they could put a dent in the massive machine suspended before me.

" _We're nearly to the building Ma'am, just coming up the last pass."_ Answered the voice on the other end. _"The main doors are heavily reinforced. It'll take some time and noise to blow our way through. Over."_

"I'll have them opened from inside. Keep the noise to a minimum. Over." I switched channels and then held transmit again. "Pawn Team, are you in their local network?"

" _The firewalls are bypassed and the passkeys we found are good. I'm logged in. Over."_ Keid replied.

"Perfect. I need the big doors open." I released the transmit button.

The indoor environment of the giant, unevenly shaped building echoed with metallic ringing as a sequence of locks unlatched electronically. I turned and looked behind me, seeing a pair of massive double doors separate and roll apart on tracked wheels, revealing the starlit nighttime sky outside. Augustgrad was visible in the distance, through a number of dry, rocky crags surrounding the high mountain this facility was built inside. This opening would allow my main force into the open floor of the facility when they arrived.

I waited awhile, walking off to the side to stand next to a small row of pallets, where I wasn't a sitting duck in the middle of the open ground and floor. After a minute of checking the outside for an approaching army, I picked up my radio again. "Hey… Pawn. How's ah… how's frying this thing's brain coming along?" I said to Keid.

" _I must ask that you find some other way to amuse yourself, Princess. Over."_

I frowned at this, feeling annoyed. And then I replied: "I asked you a question. I need to know what everybody's doing for this operation to run smoothly. Over." I released the button. Even in mission mode he managed to find some way to annoy me.

" _In the event that I have something to report, I will report it. Over."_

"I asked for a status update." I growled this.

" _Very well:"_ He entered into rapid speak, _"No hostiles in my vicinity. I'm tweaking the industrial-grade transformers to allow the surge through, and re-orienting the grid to accommodate the timed dispersion algorithm. A couple of Tosh's people are replacing key ROM chips with microcontrollers. Over."_

I twitched even more at his doing exactly what I asked. Next I put two fingers on my forehead. _"Tosh, are… um, are you in position?"_

His psionic voice replied: _"What the science man said, boss. If you cannot patience yourself… we not bringin' you along no more."_

Everybody was just so sucky tonight. I switched channels on my radio and called the commander of my main force. "Give me an ETA, Rook Team. Over."

" _We'll be there in five minutes Ma'am. Over."_

Five whole minutes for the big guns to get here. Five minutes that would wear on my patience, and on the window before GenTek learned of our infiltration and sent a response force. The only people here when we arrived were a nightshift of civilian staff and a token number of security guards. They were all lined up along a wall, tranquilized and fast asleep.

"At last, I, have found you, Princess." The voice came from behind, and had a familiar pacing and gravel-stricken pitch. I turned, and through the very large opening to the outside presented by the open main doors, I saw him. The surprise of his appearance was immediately overridden by the fact that I knew him and he was a sucky, sucky, annoying, sucky… Urgh! I can't stand him!

He came right up to me, having come in from outside. I could barely contain my seething resentment. "What, in the almighty Goddess' name are you doing here, Dehaka?" I glared up at him.

" _You want that joker killed, Saraslha?"_ Tosh asked me telepathically.

Yes! Shoot him. Fill him with so much accelerated mass that there's no way he could ever regenerate. _"…No, hold your fire."_ I actually said.

Dehaka spoke in answer to my question. "I, was hired…" He growled a bit, "By Admiral Horner. Find, you. Retrieval job."

"Hired by Horner?" This was bewildering to me. Matt Horner was that attractive young officer who escorted me to Korhal. He was Valerian's guy. "What kind of fetid, puss-filled cesspit did he dig you out of?"

"You, must come, with me. Not, safe here…" He took several steps toward me, getting close.

"Hey!" I suddenly had a hand raised. "Bad, bad Dehaka! Keep your distance." There was a reason I didn't like Dehaka, a reason he never failed to remind me of. I wish I had a bottle of water to spray him with. Water usually got to him.

He stopped for only a moment; a few seconds, and then he continued without a word. I turned to run, but his speed and one-armed reach were remarkable. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me close to himself, lugging my entire bodymass with ease as he turned and moved away from the Facility entrance with my esteemed self slung under his arm. I struggled and shouted every nanosecond of the way, of course. But the blue bastard was a lot stronger than his ropey, reptilian figure would suggest. "Put me down you giant blue jackass!" _"Tosh, shoot him!"_

The gunshot made the well-suppressed sound of a firm puff as the bullet from a distant canister rifle pierced Dehaka's carapace from behind. It exited his body out the chest in a spatter of blood and shredded organ tissue.

This barely managed to slow Dehaka as he bent over from the impact, but otherwise broke into a free run. I heard Tosh's psionic voice, _"Open fire boys. Don't hit the Client."_ More shots from Spectre canister rifles erupted from inside the building. But I knew it wouldn't be enough to stop Dehaka escaping, especially in their caution not to hit me.

* * *

 **Earlier**

" _How's it feel, Keid? Is being my stooge all it's cracked up to be?"_ Saraslha's voice could be heard out of an earpiece in the Terran Scientist's ear. He was out on a pedestrian street, well out of the sun in the lower levels of Augustgrad's urban canopy. The people tended little to their own appearance, and the homeless and jobless were on full display at out of the way corners and public benches. All light was artificial, and all seconds occupied by a din of people and echoing noises of distant machines and vehicles within the metallic superstructure of the city's lower plates.

"You should have a walk down here yourself, Princess." He maneuvered around an untended, ruined vehicle left on the street to rust. "The adolescent royal seeing what it's like outside her castle walls; I'm a sucker for that story."

" _Ooh, funny."_ She joked. _"This ain't my kingdom, though."_

Keid walked past a bum in rags laid over a public bench. He was either passed out or dead, and the dirty air had a twang of vomit scent. "Poverty is poverty, and you're as rich and powerful as it gets. The trope would work."

" _I've studied that word; 'poverty'."_ Saraslha said. _"And what it means is people with nothing to do; no purpose and no productive end. The Zerg have zero poverty; all of my people have a purpose that fulfills them in life. It's Valerian who should tour my mother's ghettoes, not the other way around."_

He had reached the target area. "We can debate living conditions between races later. I'm at the location." Next to him was a dark, deserted alleyway between two steel buildings that went all the way up into the upper plate, seconding as supports. He headed calmly into this alley. It was deserted; nobody was visible. He stopped halfway in. "To whomever may be listening: I've lost my safe keys, and I'm curious if you have the mold for them." It was a code phrase, with no meaning except identification.

Gabriel Tosh became visible, walking out from behind a wide outdoor ventilation shaft. He looked Keid in the eye. "I'm havin' the mold cleaned. Come back next week."

This was the correct answer to the code phrase. "You're Gabriel Tosh, then."

"And you ain't the client. She sounded like a puny girl. 'Te daughter of some billionaire, I'm presuming."

"I'm an intermediary." He explained calmly. "Our mutual associate would prefer not to be identified."

"And mah boys have identified you. You're a science man, works for GenTek, the big, bad megacorporation." He subtly, calmly stepped closer.

"Our mutual associate is not affiliated with GenTek, in fact her goal is to destroy that organization and kill its leader, David Kuraski. She wishes to enlist your services in the cause of doing so."

Tosh's voice suddenly became forceful. "You be forgivin' me if that's suspicious as all hell." His knife was out, and he was now walking circles around Keid, whose hands clasped behind his back, calmly standing. "And you workin' wit' this client makes you a dirty rotten traitor, yeah?"

Keid took a deep, exasperated breath as Tosh's knife was held close to his neck in circling. "Yes, I'm a dirty rotten traitor." He could hear Saraslha chuckling in his earpiece. "You're a psychic, no?" Keid continued. "You can tell if a person is lying. That's why you wanted to meet in person."

"The client in person. You're not the client." His head shook subtly as he slowed, and stopped circling around him. "But I'm havin' a sense of things. A sense of…" He leaned closer, and his nostrils flared as he sniffed through them. When this gradual, patient inhalation finished, his eyes lit, and he grinned. "You been near Zerg." Another whiff. "A Zerg… wit' a big brain…" It dawned on him. "The client is the missing Princess, no?"

" _Dang… he's good. Tell him he's hired."_ Saraslha said through the earpiece.

"She says you're hired."

"My boys and I don't come cheap." He'd taken several steps back into the alleyway, facing away from Keid.

"Indeed, but for some reason or another you're in need of money. That's why you put a contract out." He spoke calmly to the Spectre. "The Client wishes to retain your services for the duration of thirty days. She'll pay your full price immediately up-front."

Gabriel Tosh looked leftward, then right, muttering a bit to himself, borne more of eccentricity than any particular mood. After many seconds of this, he came out with his answer. "It's a deal."

"Very good." He nodded. "I'm being tailed by three discreet individuals who are looking for the Princess, with the intent to kill her. They think I'm leading them to her."

"I noticed you bein' tailed." Tosh said. "My boys got crosshairs on them. Does she want them alive?"

" _I don't want them alive."_

"She doesn't want them alive."

It was a rapid succession, mere seconds after Tosh shut his eyes and transferred the order telepathically. The mostly metallic terrain of the lower city echoed with the discharge of three different rifle shots.

There was a minor uproar; startled people out on the streets, wondering where the gunshots came from. Some shouted, some ran, but otherwise it was a mild ripple in public order. In this lower level of the city, the sound of gunshots were commonplace. Law enforcement would be around soon to look into it, but they never found anything to arrest or quell in such a low-energy slum.

" _I am very pleased with this fella, Keid."_

"She says she's very pleased with you." He relayed.

" _Tell him I'll be in touch. Stay in town."_

Keid turned to leave. "The Client will be in touch. You're to remain in the vicinity of Augustgrad." When Tosh turned and left in the other direction without a word, Keid went back out on the street. "I must say, Princess. Being your stooge has its… experiences." He would take a different route, rounding back to the place he came; a train station.

" _Afraid he'd slit your throat, weren'tcha?"_

"Of course."

" _Welp, better you than me."_

"You'll be a wonderful leader of your people, I'm sure." He said sarcastically.

" _I'm no Queen of Blades, but I try."_ Her tone was flattered, and somewhat bashful.

"If someone at GenTek suspects me, then my apartment is no longer safe." He switched the topic to a more serious one.

" _Way ahead of you. Meet me at the Hotel Marianne. You're certainly not being followed now."_

"Which room?"

" _The… entire hotel. I own it now. Oh, and you didn't forget to pick up the stuff I asked for, did you?"_

He decided it would be wise not to ask why she bought a hotel. "It all managed to fit in the trunk."

" _Splendid! Now, care to elaborate what made GenTek suspicious of you?"_

"Her name…" He reached the train station, and timed his arrival with the next departure almost perfectly. The doors automatically shut, and the mono railed transit vehicle began to move. The car he entered was deserted, but he stood nonetheless rather than taking a seat. "Is Karla Simmons."

* * *

 **Earlier Yet**

 _You mean GenTek's head of Security?_ Saraslha said. _That's where I found the name._

She's David Kuraski's attack dog, and when I came into GenTek West this morning, I was immediately taken to a conference room by security, and there she was. She was conducting a mole hunt, and I was to be… questioned.

The first thing to always stand out with Karla was her dress-sense. A fashionable pale-purple coat and slacks, with a long, expressive scarf down her center which was not meant for warmth. The next feature to stand out was a head of short, but thick raven hair that gave no indication of allowing itself to smooth over, but was shaped and controlled nonetheless.

 _You really memorized what she looks like. Is that useful in some way?_

Come, Princess. I'm telling a story.

 _Yeah, yeah fine. Tell away, Keid._

I was seated at the end of the table, security personnel were at the two doors which led into the broader office area. She was the first to speak: "Apologies for the disruption, Doctor Marchen. I assure you it's important."

"I believe you," I said, putting up a relaxed appearance, my hands rested on the table in a knit.

"I just have a few basic questions." She exited my field of vision before coming around my seat and propping a hand on the table some distance away. She looked me straight in the eye. I'd always wondered whether she was a tomboy, a lesbian or both, the way she carried herself like a man, but one look into those eyes told an entirely different story: She was a stone-cold killer. "Where were you last night, between the times of 03:00 hours and 06:00?"

"I was at the Grey Mesa compound."

This answer surprised her; caught her off guard. She'd already believed I was there, but didn't expect I'd admit it. "And… for what purpose?"

"My primary assignment was oversight and maintenance of the Hybrid Specimen's container. I went to the Mesa regularly."

"So you saw what happened. You were there at the time." She had an icy glare.

"Somebody tipped off the authorities, and now you're questioning everybody who had access." I deflected forcefully. "Believe me, I'm as pissed off as you and Mister Kuraski. The damned authorities had no business storming a private facility and killing the Specimen. I hope you find the prick that ratted us out." That prick was me, of course. But They didn't need to know that.

She tapped the tabletop twice. "Let's stay on topic. What did you see, and what did you do?" If my story contradicted what she knew to be true, she'd know I was lying. But now she thinks I believe that the Hybrid was killed by the Dominion Garrison, and I had no knowledge of you, or their mercenaries, believing these mercenaries were, in fact the Garrison.

 _You crafted a helluva lie then. Slipping in misdirection like that. I'm the one who killed Niadra._

Indeed you did, Princess. Anyhow, my testimony went like this: "I entered through a personnel elevator at around 04:30. None of the staff were present for some reason. I didn't think much of it; the Mesa was a discreet, lightly manned facility; perhaps the shifts were rotating."

Karla shook her head, getting up and pacing again. "A memo was distributed to everybody with clearance; they were to steer clear of the Grey Mesa until further notice. Did you not read it?"

"I did, and I chose to ignore it."

"You… not only took insubordinate action, but admit as much freely."

"Insubordination to whom? An automated email server? Piss off." I was angered now; mildly outraged as I leaned forward. "There needs to be a damn good reason not to inspect the integrity of a container housing an entity that can cause mass destruction and death. No reason was given in the email, and no reason is a trash reason."

"You should watch your tone, Doctor Marchen. You're suspect like everybody else."

I made finger quotes, "I don't have proof, but he was rude to me so it's him." My face was lowered slightly, shaking my head. "You're a true professional, Karla. Real top-notch investigative work."

 _You were being a real ass then._ Saraslha commented.

I was acting like an ass who was innocent of the crime. The latter of those is the important part.

"You're starting to annoy me…" Karla's tone was low now, and she stopped pacing. The security guards at each door were indifferent.

"That's not my intention at all, Ma'am. I want to help in any way I can." I'd shifted to a cordial, accommodating demeanor. "Are you looking into the anonymous caller who tipped the authorities?"

Her arms were crossed now. "Yes, I have someone on that. But it's off topic—"

"Look, Miss Simmons" my hand waved off dismissively. "I only glimpsed the scene of the clearing from the overhead control room before turning tail and running. There was a crashed Viking, about a half dozen in walker form, and a large contingent of footsoldiers from the Augustgrad Garrison. The Specimen was on the ground dead; her head severed from her body." I took a breath, continuing. "As I fled, I heard an explosion from that direction; like a grenade or bomb going off. I didn't see anybody though."

"At what time did you witness the scene?" She asked.

"I guess it was about… twenty minutes after I arrived. Twenty after four-thirty."

 _D'oh… that's a lie, Keid. You scrammed out of there a bit before that, with me over your shoulders._

Indeed Princess. A story so very close to the truth, but which doesn't incriminate me.

 _It makes you the most suspicious._

At first glance, yes. But for a trained investigator… A rude suspect who is aware enough not to be, and whose story is one lie wrapped in a sea of truths…

Karla Simmons shook her head. "There's no way you're the mole, Doctor Marchen."

"Do you have an idea of who might be?"

She sighed, exasperated. "No…" Then her gaze slipped silently to looking me in the eye. "I also have no leads on the princess. She could be anywhere."

A chill ran up my spine. She still suspected me, and was probing every possible avenue to make me give myself away. If I responded with any awareness of… you, Saraslha, then it would incriminate me. My story would only work if I hadn't noticed you.

 _I don't like this Simmons lady… does she die in this story?_

What? No. Just… let me tell the story, Saraslha.

 _I get to tell a story next, and you have to listen… okay?_

Yeah, sure. Anyhow, my response was a mere second after she spoke. "Oh, hey!" My eyes lit up as I leaned forward. "Did you hear about the Zerg Princess visiting Korhal? That's a hell of an event."

Her expression was a mix of surprise, annoyance, and quizzical puzzlement. "That was… all over the news, everywhere, Doctor Marchen. There isn't anybody who doesn't know about it."

"It sure caught me off-guard." I appeared relaxed. "It's pretty phenomenal, when you think about it: Diplomancy, with the most savage, violent alien race in known existence."

"I suppose it is." She said indifferently.

"They're saying on the news that she's vanished or some such. I certainly hope nothing happens to her. Another war with the Zerg would be… terrible." I looked casually into her eyes as I said this.

"I don't have any further questions." She was shaking her head. "Perhaps later, but for now you're free to go."

She would end up interviewing everybody on the list of suspects before drawing any hard leads. I left the conference room, and was reassigned to my old department; the one I worked in before we found the Hybrid specimen and needed to build a containment unit.

* * *

 **On Saraslha's end**

I was lain relaxedly on the cushiest piece of furniture I'd ever encountered. It was inside the penthouse suite of the Hotel Marianne; an establishment I had just purchased in its entirety a few hours ago. Humans were frail creatures, but they really knew how to not only make their environment survivable, but to make it heaven for their frail selves. I almost wished I didn't have a carapace over most of my body so I could feel the material and cushiness more intimately.

A portable encrypted telephone rested in my slack, outstretched hand. Keid was on the other end, telling me about how he lied his way out of Kuraski's gal finding out what a traitor he was. I get to tell a story next time though; he promised.

I brought the phone near my speaking orifice, "What was your job before keeping Niadra in a box? Did it have something to do with studying my kind?"

" _Zerg Neurobiology, as a matter of fact. The team I was part of developed a functional, synthetic brain that was receptive to psionic commands from humans. It was a critical piece of the Chronos project."_

"Scary…" I said with an oblivious lack of conviction as my other hand probed about for a half-depleted bag of snack cakes. "The monkeys went and made a brain."

" _Emperor Mengsk the Second has taken drastic measures in lessening the presence of government in people's lives, and the result has been an explosion of technological advancement and economic growth. We could never have completed the project, much less gotten it greenlit under Arcturus' regime; too many regulations, too much red tape. The downside, however…"_ he trailed.

"The downside is GenTek's private army and shady agenda making a target of my esteemed self." I completed, having found my snack cakes and taken several into my mouth, chewing as I talked.

" _I'd compare Arcturus Mengsk's regime to GenTek, but that wouldn't be fair to GenTek. A tyrannical government is an entire league worse than an overpowered megacorporation."_

"It's okay, you've already betrayed them." I said through a mouthful of snack cake. "You can say you hate them."

" _I don't hate them, Princess. I don't even think David Kuraski is a bad person. But the attempt on your life was reckless and irresponsible, and I couldn't go along with it."_

"Well you better be okay with me killing him. It's the reason I haven't hightailed it off Korhal; this is my only chance to nail the bastard without creating an international incident."

" _I'm one hundred percent behind your cause, Princess."_

I had a small, private smile at this.

" _Speaking of synthetic Zerg brains and the Chronos project, there's an important matter I wish to discuss… But I'd like to do so in person."_

"Why in person?' I turned and sat up in my cushy couch. "You don't have to worry about the line, it's super-encrypted."

" _This is true,"_ he said. _"But it's really important, and I want to be certain you're listening."_

"Whaat?" I asked in lazy outrage. "I always listen, come on. What's it about?" Now I was leaning forward to grab my big glass bottle of Cola. It was the most exotic beverage I'd ever tasted; not as sweet as condensed Vespene, but it left a pleasant aftertaste and was no slouch on the energy boost.

 _"Project Chronos... is a superweapon."_

This caused me to sober. I swallowed my Cola sip before replying. "We'll… talk when you get here." GenTek had something that might qualify as a superweapon; this could throw a significant wrench in my plans. I hung up.

I rose to my feet and began walking. The suite was spacious and dim; its giant windows to the outside were covered with drapes, letting in only cracks of daylight. The Hotel Marianne was a tower on the top plate of Augustgrad. I managed to relocate myself to it by purchasing the building through digital contract, and then sneaking through the city using a cloaking module I'd bought online. Since I owned the building, that meant I could do whatever I want with it, including fortify it against attack.

My tablet, resting on the bar counter, had a list of contractors who could turn my building into a fortress. One group even offered to include the installation of a Defense Matrix generator that could shield the entire exterior; I was leaning toward their offer. Several mercenary contracts had also been bought by me, and their forces would arrive on Korhal soon. Now that Tosh was hired I could have his people hustle the right people in the bureaucracy to get my mercenary forces cleared for landing without any hassles in orbit.

Even prior to the Queen of Blades' invasion of Korhal, it was the most fortified world in the Koprulu Sector. These days it was even more so with a giant orbital fortress in synchronous orbit over Augustgrad, as well as hundreds of smaller platforms, surface-based weapons and a significant defense fleet. Attempting to penetrate the planet's defense with anything less than a Zerg-scale invasion; All the Queen's Horses and All the Queen's Men, would be suicide.

So of course jerrying the system on the control level to get a small force of their fellow humans through was the wiser decision. I had never before commanded an army that wasn't Zerg, but there's a first for everything I suppose. With the sheer magnitude of private security forces and mercenary contacts GenTek had, challenging them militarily would be dangerous. But I had to; even if a chance presented itself to assassinate Kuraski discreetly, the retaliation would be immense and I would need to fight them anyway.

Something caught my eye from the corner of my view as I was staring at my tablet sipping Cola. The television had been left on with the sound muted. And this peculiar thing nabbed at my attention. I unmuted the television as I turned fully to see it. The channel was UNN; an indoor studio, and what I saw on their set through the TV would have made me drop my Cola if I didn't cherish the exotic drink so.

Broodmother Rindell.

" _Do not obstruct me, weaklings."_ Her voice was distant from any microphone on set, making it barely audible as she moved across the floor on a formation of legs. The live camera tracked her. Somebody in the distance was screaming. Several chairs were knocked over, and a boom mic lay on the floor. The place was apparently in uproar. _"No, keep the cameras rolling."_ Spoke another, crisply audible female voice.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Rindell had broken into a television studio, and interrupted a live broadcast. _"You,"_ Rindell pointed with her two-fingered hand to somebody off-screen. _"You will broadcast what I am to say over your entire network, or I'll end your existence."_

" _This is a live broadcast."_ The human female voice spoke calmly. _"You're already on air, Broodmother."_

" _Good. Bring a microphone to me."_

One of the handful of people to not flee the studio went to fetch a microphone. The human female began speaking in a low, rapid voice. _"Ladies and gentlemen, dear viewers, Broodmother Rindell of internet media fame has just broken into our studio, and is demanding a microphone and a platform by which to broadcast… a message of some sort I assume. What is this message? We will soon find out. This is Kate Lockwell, UNN, and I'm currently afraid for my life."_

Rindell was handed a microphone, which she held awkwardly between two hands. I couldn't help but be immensely entertained by my gal's antics. A smirk was on my face as I watched the television.

" _Princess Saraslha."_ Rindell said, her voice clear now that she was near a mic.

I immediately sobered, calmed. It just occurred to me that she didn't even know whether I was alive.

" _I cannot sense your mind anywhere on this planet. Your severed nerve cords were found at the Grey Mesa, and this explains much… nevertheless, there must be a reason you have not returned."_

I had a war to fight; a unique war, which would help me to grow. If I returned, then I'd be forced to flee the planet and Kuraski will have won. I couldn't return.

" _I am certain you must still be in Terran Space, my Princess, and so if you're viewing this, be assured that you will be found, and brought back to the Swarm. And if you are held captive, then this message is for your captors:"_ Rindell was staring at the camera with a dormant, boiling rage. _"Release her to us unharmed, immediately. If you fail to do this, all the Swarm will mobilize, and the universe will not be large enough for you to hide. Your existence will be forfeit."_

In the background, a large number of lightly armored, but heavily armed Garrison soldiers flooded into the room through a destroyed door. They formed a battle line along the distant wall with their gauss rifles aimed at Rindell. _"Don't shoot!"_ The human female called. _"She hasn't killed anyone."_

" _Broodmother Rindell."_ The Garrison Captain said. _"You are under arrest for assault, breaking and entering, trespassing, and disturbing the peace. Come with us, or take your chances against our firepower, and the perimeter of a hundred more combat personnel surrounding the building. The choice is yours."_

My eyes were glued to the television. I didn't expect the Garrison to exercise due process for a Zerg, and a part of me was glad Rindell had exercised restraint and didn't kill any humans. But now… what would she do? Zerg were not wired to flee, and especially not wired to surrender. Rindell was conscious, with advanced brain mass, and could act against her instincts if she chose. But if she didn't, and it was likely she wouldn't, it would mean a bloodbath. If the first wave of humans failed to kill her, she could lay eggs and raise a small army from the human biomass.

I could not sense Rindell's mind, even though I knew exactly where that particular studio was. When I tried to connect, the open ends of my severed nerve cords throbbed, and bled slightly through the clamps as more blood was circulated through them… But now I had to. I understood that Rindell's best option was to turn herself in. If she went on a killing spree, it would bring my people's relations with the dominion back to square one. _"Rindell…"_ As I tried to cast my voice in her direction, the pain flared to a whole new level. I dropped to my knees, my hands resting atop the backrest of the couch in front of me. My telepathic voice used every nerve cord at once, and the damage to just a few of them scrambled the entire system and disjointed it. I kept repeating the name: _"Rindell… Rindell… Rindell…"_

And then all of the minds, all of the conscious wills of the inhabitants of the giant city became audible as one titanic, tremoring din with my psi awareness being manually boosted. It was little wonder the Terrans placed limiting elements on their own psychics; they'd go insane otherwise at their first encounter with a major population center.

The headache, the disjointed attempt at telepathy became too much. After the fight with the Hybrid Niadra, my body had healed in under an hour, but nerve cords were a different story; it'd take them several more days to be functional again. The attempt at connection broke off. I had failed; my voice didn't even come close to Rindell. I watched the standoff on the television.

Rindell did not bare her acid spines, or adopt any kind of aggressive stance. _"I…"_ She said, after many painful seconds of suspense. " _I surrender."_

The captain audibly swallowed, with the female reporter having maneuvered around the room to place a microphone near him. _"Alright then."_ He managed to keep his composure at confronting the Zerg creature. _"Come with me down to the station."_

Still sitting on my knees, I exclaimed with an almost cathartic relief, feeling the fear and stress vanish. My gal had made the right decision on her own. I was proud of her.

" _And there you have it viewers."_ The reporter narrated, eager to cover this story which had delivered itself to her doorstep. _"This bloodthirsty Zerg warrior has gone against all expectations reasonably made by Humanity; myself included, and turned herself in to the authorities."_ The camera followed Rindell heading calmly toward the destroyed door, being escorted by Garrison troops with their guns leveled at her.

I calmed, my arms lagged over the couch backrest as my breathing became even again. There was a knock on my door. Outside was a small hallway leading to an elevator and service stairway. The Penthouse occupied almost the entire top floor. "Who is it?" I asked in an elevated voice as I shot to my feet to grab my large pistol from the counter.

"A dirty rotten traitor, Your Brattiness."

"Well?" I said. "I told Reception to give you a key when you arrived."

"I don't want to be accidentally shot, so I'm announcing myself first."

"We gotta talk, fast. Come in." After setting my gun on the counter, I headed away from between the bar and couch area, toward the door. When Keid opened it and walked in, I immediately started speaking. "My gal Rindell's been arrested. I can't show my face in public, the hotel staff thinks I'm human 'cause they haven't seen me in person yet and my nerve cords are taking their sweet time healing so…" I took a fresh breath to keep talking rapidly, "you need to go tell her I'm fine and not to do anything crazy, okay?" I was energetic. I wanted to just run a kilometer or two after the adrenalin of watching the standoff.

He needed a second to process all of this. "Rindell, she's… the Broodmother?"

I started pacing. God, he was slow! "She's my bodyguard, she did something rash because she thinks I'm in danger, and now they're taking her to the slammer. Do you not follow current events?"

"I've been busy running errands." He looked upward, thinking about it. "A Broodmother in prison… she'll be leader of the toughest gang in like… a day."

I nodded at this as I paced, raising an index finger. "I agree she's pretty bright, but that's really not the issue right now."

"So you want me to visit her in prison and tell her you're alright."

"Yes! Exactly."

"You can't just… talk to her telepathically?"

I picked up one of my severed nerve cords by its blunt end, wrapped in a steel belt clamp. "I tried, and it hurt. Speaking of which… about one of the items I had you fetch…"

Reminded, he reached into a coat pocket and took out a small glass bottle with a safety lid. "I figured this was for your nerve cords."

"Ohh… sweet comfort." I walked up and accepted the bottle. A lot of the stuff in my new penthouse was kept in twisty caps, like bottles of Cola. I'd gotten experienced at opening them in the last few hours. But this little bottle was refusing to open no matter how much I twisted it.

"It's a child safety lid." Keid said, watching me struggle with it. "You need to—"

"I've got it." I snipped in annoyance, turning around and walking back to the counter. "You've got a message to deliver. Then we can talk about GenTek's superweapon and the best way to blow it to bits." Fed up with the safety lid, I smashed the glass bottle on the granite bar counter. The contents were thick and paste-like, and didn't go anywhere. Eager, I fingered up swabs of the stuff and meticulously applied it on the open wounds at the ends of my nerve cords. I looked over to see what Keid was doing.

His earpiece was out, and he was manually inputting a connection code with a tiny dial. "That paste is normally used for flesh wounds." He said, not looking at me. "It'll enter your bloodstream in the exposed area, and clot the arteries, no matter how large or small and prevent blood loss. It also seconds as a disinfectant, though I doubt you've need of that second purpose, your Zergly Highness."

With the paste applied to the ends of my nerve cords, I could take the belt clamps off without them bleeding. The vanquishing of this discomfort put me in a bright mood. "Rindell… is pretty important to me, you know. I don't want her doing anything rash while in custody…" I unscrewed the clamps one at a time, setting them on the counter.

"No worries, Princess. It will be resolved in about thirty seconds." He placed the earpiece back in his ear. "Tosh, it's the intermediary." A pause. "I bring a new order from the client; this one's easy. She wants you to contact the recently arrested Broodmother telepathically, and relay the following message word for word:" And then he removed the earpiece, walked right up to me, and offered it to me like it was a microphone and I was being interviewed.

The understanding quickly came to me. I beamed with joy at what was happening as I thought of what to say. Quickly I inhaled and summoned the words. "Rindell, I promise you I'm fine. There are things I have to do, and I can't reveal my location to you because honestly, I don't trust you not to grab me, lug me under your arm and drag me back to Char yourself. This is to your credit! You'd do anything to protect me, I know that. And perhaps one day that might become vital. You're free to search for me; I welcome that because it's indicative of your good intentions and the best in you. I ask only that you refrain from hurting anybody who doesn't mean you harm."

I had a lot more to say. The earpiece was held patiently and silently before me. "I saw what you did in the studio. You went against everything you felt was right, and gave yourself up. I know how difficult that had to be for you, and I know why you did it. You did it because…" I was on the verge of choking up with tears. "Because you knew that it's what I would have wanted. Because you believe in me, in my crazy ideas. That…" My eyes were damp; tear glands given to me by the human half of my essence. "That means more to me than you will ever know…"

I took a breath, composing myself. "The guy who tried to arrange my death is going to get what's coming to him. He wanted a war, and now he's going to have it. I can't leave until he's dealt with; I have no proof of his complicity and there's no way I can get to him from the safety of the Swarm. I can't go back yet, Rindell. I'm sorry. I'll win though." My expression perked up. "You know what I'm capable of better than anyone. My pieces are being set on the board, and he'll be gone by the tenth move, at the latest." Satisfied, I decided to wrap it up. "I expect you to triumph over every challenge that comes your way, as you've already done, Rindell. Such is the way of the Swarm, and of the great Goddess of Life. Show no mercy, especially not to your own undesirable impulses. You've committed a minor offense, and will be let off with a fine or meager jail time as long as you don't kill anybody or repeat offend. Go along with this, so you can get set free and back to doing what you do as soon as possible. That is all… signing off."

Keid raised the earpiece in offering, and I took it, placing it inside my own earhole. "Did you get all that…?"

" _Relayed in real time. She's already heard it."_ Gabriel said calmly to me.

"Well done, Tosh." The eccentric Spectre had just done right by me. "I'm having a planning meeting, and I want you here. Come to the Penthouse Suite of the Hotel Marianne." With this, I removed the earpiece and handed it back to Keid. "I suppose now we can talk about the Superweapon."

"Yes, It's being kept at the Olympus Facility, sixty clicks out from the City Limits." He accepted his earpiece and put it back in.

"It'll be priority one as soon as my forces make a landing. I'm thinking tomorrow night, once my nerve cords have healed." I clapped my hands together, rubbing them as I turned and walked further inside. "Do come in, let's get to plotting."

* * *

Night had fallen over the urban cityscape of Augustgrad. Kuraski observed this view from the encompassing window of his office. The system's star fading from vision as it dipped under the horizon, and the smaller, innumerable swarm of city lights coming in to supplant the greater light which had left, this left a vague twang of nostalgia in his mind, coupled with excitement, a desire to do something with himself in this changed theme.

"Coming up with plans, sir?" Karla's approaching voice was coming up a brief stairway which led to his elevated desk area. "Schemes and strategies and the like?" Her tone had the subtle inflection of lightheartedness.

He smiled, slightly at this, his back still to her. "Always."

"We identified the mole. It was Marchen."

"How do you know?"

"I had several suspects followed. Everybody sent to follow Doctor Marchen was killed."

He tsked, shaking his head. "That's a damn shame. I was told the Chronos would still be in early Beta if not for his contributions."

"No doubt he knew about our plans for the Princess and had… ethical objections." She'd taken a seat against the wall off from his desk, crossing her legs.

"What's another war, weighed against the march of Progress?" He said this naturally, calmly with a secure certainty. "The Daelaam might delay and deliberate, but ultimately they'd enter the war on our side. The Swarm is not a serious threat, and their princess is not untouchable. Doctor Marchen's failure to grasp that is just that: a failure."

"Our best operatives are watching the Palace, Embassy and every single Starport around the clock. If she appears near these places, they'll shoot to kill."

"If any other avenue of escape is discovered, I expect it will be checked as well."

"Of course." Karla nodded. "We should assume the Princess knows everything Marchen knows. And once she knows about the Olympus Facility and the Chronos, she'll opt to destroy it."

"And she'll do it the only way she knows how: Attacking it with an army." He was shaking his head lightly.

"Zerg are predictable creatures." She added. "Should we call in our heavies to repel her attack?"

Instead of answering, Kuraski asked a new question. "What action has the Emperor taken?"

"Our spies report that Admiral Horner has hired a mercenary group: The Viper Dragoons, led by a man named Dehaka to find and retrieve her."

He turned around, looking her way. "Then there's no need to call in the heavies, at least not yet. Leak some information to this… Dehaka; let him know about the princess' attack on the Olympus Facility without mentioning the facility itself or its purpose."

She stood. "I'll get right on that. As soon as we've deduced the timing of her attack, we'll leak the information to him."

"The biggest variable is the mercenaries successfully retrieving her. If this happens…" His look was intent; expecting.

She had an expression whose bloodthirstiness and focus could not be hidden. "I'll see to it myself."

* * *

 **The Present**

Dehaka was injured pretty bad before he got out of the line of sight of my Spectre sharpshooters. Nevertheless he ran with a vitality and stamina only a Zerg could produce. A lot of his blood got on me before his wounds clotted and stopped bleeding. He'd taken a different path out of the mountains from the one used by my forces approaching the facility, and so I couldn't count on being saved by them. I was not even close to as strong as Dehaka, and he was oblivious to my attempts at clawing and hitting. Even if I could get him to let go of me so I could run, he could run me down and catch me again.

His sprint through the rocky desert under the starlit night sky was quiet and calming with air blowing past me. He approached another, distant uprising of land surrounding with broad paths cut in between. As we approached the entrance, I saw it was guarded by a squadron of mercenary Marines; these ones weren't mine.

When Dehaka approached them, they saluted and he stopped near them. "Sir!" One of them said. "Sensors pick up you're being followed. They have special ops coordination, there's no more than ten. A large conventional force is approaching further behind as well."

Dehaka growled at this. "I, have, princess. Kill them on sight."

"Couldn't we talk this out like civilized beings?" I asked aloud from being carried under his arm.

"Shut, your, mouth. Frail being." Dehaka snapped at me.

I had a snide smirk. "I'm going to have you hunted down and murdered when this is over, Dehaka. I hope you realize that."

"Contact, the Killer Snake. Deploy, Thor. Repel…" Dehaka growled as he described the order. "Pursuers."

"Aye sir." The Marine answered as Dehaka headed into the broad pass with my esteemed self still under his arm.

"How in holy hell did your ragtag outfit get a Thor?" I asked Dehaka once we were alone together again. "Even the most flexible underground markets are twitchy about trading around that kind of hardware."

"I, am, mercenary. Do not reveal…" His head shook. "Trade secrets."

"You're a real professional then, ain'cha?"

"Am only, doing, job. Collect payment." Dehaka stated. "Princess threatens… hunt, Dehaka, Kill, Dehaka…" An inhaling growl. "For doing job. Selfish princess."

My left eye found itself twitching like crazy. I had just been verbally burned by a creature who kidnapped me and couldn't construct a proper sentence to save his life. "What's the Killer Snake?"

"My, ship. You aboard… until delivery, to Admiral Horner."

"And…" I was surprised he was answering all my questions. "Why are your troops all Terran?"

"My pack… wiped out. Dehaka, nearly wiped out. Zerus, merciless place. Now mercenary."

"What's the good Admiral paying you?"

"Will, not, disclose. Private contract." We'd reached a clearing between the uprisings of stone. And here I saw a compound of buildings. Small metallic units for storing supplies, as well as larger buildings whose frames were suspended on formations of round metal feet. The place was in rapid motion as powered-armor soldiers and armored vehicles formed into battlegroups.

Above, I saw a Dropship coming down from orbit. Latched to its lower exterior was a Thor folded into transport mode.

The reality of my situation was easy to grasp. Even if my Spectres and merc forces assaulted Dehaka's base, and even of they won, I'll have been long spirited aboard Dehaka's ship in orbit, to be delivered back to Horner's ship or the Palace. With this, I shut my eyes and sent a message telepathically.

Sensing this, Dehaka stopped in the open ground of the base. He set me on my feet, holding me around the waist with a large hand as he shrieked at my face. Thinking quickly, he angled his mouth to bite off a tuft of my nerve cords.

"I'm calling them off!" I shouted before he did this, causing him to pause. "You win, dammit. I'm telling them to stand down, to let you take me."

Dehaka was still, processing this with his fingers gripping my waist with a painful tightness. "You, are calling, for truce?"

"Yes, I'm calling for a truce. Tell your people to stand down as well."

"No, more, clawing? No, more, shooting me?"

"You can take me back to your employers, I…" My eyes shut tight, with my closed fists shaking. "I won't resist anymore."

More long seconds, and Dehaka's grip relaxed, slowly, and he eventually let go of me. "Have broadcasted, order. Warriors, standing down."

"I've done the same." I said.

"No fighting, cuts expenses. Grateful."

"Let's go then." I walked on my own, with Dehaka right behind me to the side. As we traversed the base area, he directed me toward a landed dropship, its ramp open. As we walked, and through the miserable pit my mind felt itself within, I had to ask: "How'd you broadcast an order without talking or using telepathy?" Primal Zerg were about as telepathic as a hedgehog with a nail in its head.

"Cybernetic, brain implant. Connected…" His voice graveled a bit, wagging his naturally helmeted head, "to radio band. Efficient."

"That's…" I was surprised. We were nearing the dropship. "Actually a wonderful idea." Probably the most frustrating thing about leading human forces was the need to communicate what I wanted vocally; doing it straight from my brain to the comms would bring it much closer to my comfort zone. Dehaka was a sucky jerk, but he could occasionally stumble on a good idea.

* * *

Karla Simmons had changed to a dark ops suit, carrying a gun which occupied a middle ground in size between a sawed-off shotgun and a heavy pistol. She'd observed the Princess' infiltration of the Olympus Facility, built inside the cluster of mountains around 60 kilometers from the City Limits. She watched this happen, doing nothing to intervene. They'd made a good effort to remain undetected, but she also detected at least ten cloaked operatives whom accompanied the Zerg Princess. The miniscule night staff of the facility were easily overtaken; GenTek had done nothing to bolster the guard at the place they knew would be a target.

More pieces entered the board; a sizable mercenary force on Saraslha's payroll was coming up the northwest pass, and the giant main doors of the facility were opened, revealing a deserted main floor.

And then, just on time, Dehaka appeared. Karla was surprised to detect him approaching the facility on his own, and then even more so to see, with her own eyes from her hidden spot overlooking the sandy front yard, that he wasn't a human; he was a Zerg, of a classification she'd never seen or studied before. The Viper Dragoons' profile said nothing of their leader being an inhuman beast. Her plan to snipe him and spark a battle if it didn't escalate on its own had become complicated.

But he managed to do what he was leaked the information to do nonetheless. He'd come several steps through the main entrance, and was speaking to somebody just out of Karla's field of vision. After only a minute, he'd grabbed something and run outside. Under his arm was none other than the Zerg Princess herself. Dehaka was shot from inside the building; a perfect center which went through his body, but still he kept running. More bullets came and struck him, but it was not enough to even slow him down.

Karla had no way of knowing a bullet would be enough to kill the Princess either. The knowledge that Saraslha had defeated a Hybrid prompted her to take zero chances. She had a prototype handheld bomb that, while expensive, GenTek's R&D weapons division assured her could disintegrate a Torrasque strain Ultralisk beyond the ability to regenerate. This meant it would more than disintegrate a little princess.

Dehaka was fast, and Karla flew into motion, tracking his path from the upper high ground. The terrain was uneven and laden with protrusions, but this would not slow her. She sprinted through the angled, jagged terrain, angling each high-impact step to propel herself forward and remain upright within fractions of seconds. Small rings around her lower legs, fitted with micro propulsion motors made her lighter, and gave her steps more force. The terrain which ordinary people would opt to go around or climb through carefully flew past her. Her vision was augmented by a worn visor, and the two unique bio signatures did not pull far ahead.

Karla primed her bomb as she reached a span of more level terrain on the elevated ground. Here she sprinted even faster. The injured Zerg lugging a complaintive girl through the low ground could not keep ahead of her forever, even though it wasn't aware of her presence. The range came close enough, and she was ready to toss and detonate the bomb, to kill both Dehaka and the Princess just as they were reaching open plains out from the pass.

And then pain. A bullet had found its way through the right side of her chest, just off from her center of mass. The sound of the gunshot was audible the next instant, bullets traveling faster than sound. The angle of the throw was disjointed, and she held onto the bomb and wouldn't detonate it. The armor plating beneath her ops suit only blocked the bullet enough to keep it exploding the entire right half of her torso; it still went through and came out the other side.

She fell to the ground in a forced spinning motion. And then instinct kicked in, raging instinct. Her still functional legs kicked a protruding rock ahead of them, and assisted by their micro propulsion motors it shot her sliding across the ground into cover behind a larger protrusion of stone, out of the line of fire of where she instinctively knew the shooter was.

A more thorough scan of the other side of the rock cover revealed the shooter to be a cloaked Spectre. She'd run right past him and didn't notice, and he'd seized on the opportunity and got a shot in. Karla pulled a tiny syringe from a case on her belt and injected herself in the neck. The medication would chemically react with her blood and oxygenate it, lowering the need to breathe; her right lung had been completely compromised, and she couldn't use it.

The Spectre was approaching, calmly out of the reasonable assumption that whatever life signs he detected were her last clinging moments. A new, much tinier grenade was in her hand, which she calmly slid the pin out of with a hand and teeth.

The Spectre was right next to the rock she lay behind. The grenade came up into the air and exploded in a blinding flash and deafeningly loud noise. Karla shot out of cover from the side, hunkered down as much as possible while remaining on her feet. She charged the disoriented Spectre.

And was met with the Spectre's melee weapon; a 60-centimeter blade which he slashed into her neck. It missed, and within the same second she was leaned away from him, her heavy handgun was out, its barrel concealed under her other arm. It fired.

The Spectre's left arm was blown clean off as he fell backward onto the ground, dropping his blade with the severed arm, and his rifle fell close to his still attached arm. Karla, still on her feet with a bullet hole in her chest, kicked the gun away from the Spectre and knelt down near him, her knee on his remaining arm. "You cost me my mark you son of a bitch!" Dehaka was long gone back to his base with Saraslha. Karla pulled a new syringe from her case and stuck the Spectre with it; an extreme sedative, which would slow his heartbeat to near nothing and keep him bleeding out from the severed arm. As the downed Spectre lost consciousness, she saw his mouth shift to an irregular jaw position.

"Sorry, friend." Yet another new field syringe, which she stuck him with. "Crunching a poison pill isn't going to save you from capture. I'm not coming out of this with nothing." The syringe as an antitoxin, which would mitigate the poison into survivability. All the Spectre had done was submit himself to long nights of diarrhea and vomiting.

With the adrenalin of the fight over, and the Spectre subdued, Karla sat on the ground, resisting the urge to take large breaths. "This is Simmons." She spoke into an ear-implanted communicator. "I need immediate medivac. Myself with chest wound, and one prisoner with amputated arm."

* * *

 **Saraslha**

I was seated calmly off to the side of the dropship's hold. It had lifted off, and Dehaka was sitting across from me. He didn't speak, and I was in no mood to speak. Dehaka would take me back to his ship in orbit, and then turn me over to Admiral Horner at some scheduled time. It was over and I had lost. There was no way I could prosecute Kuraski without proof, and I couldn't well attack his assets with a Swarm army; it'd be an act of war against the Dominion. It was just… such a sucky night. I leaned forward, sagging.

"… _My Princess. Are you aboard that dropship? I sense you."_

With my nerve cords mostly healed, I heard Rindell's voice. My eyes became beads. I wanted to reply, but doing it so close to Dehaka would cause him to pick it up; he wouldn't know what I was saying, but he would detect the psionic emanations coming out of my cords. _"Yes, it's me Rindell. I'm a prisoner. How are you contacting me?"_ Dehaka's head perked up, and he was leering at me. " _How did you get out of jail?"_

 _"I'm out on bail, and my trial date is next week. Be calm my Princess. You will be safe soon."_

A second later, and the ship jerked and angled forcefully. "I've lost engine three!" The pilot reported through the hold's intercom. "We're losing altitude."

Growling, Dehaka shot to his feet, walking toward the ladder which led up into the cockpit. "Land, as close, to base as possible!" his voice directed up through the cockpit hatch left open.

"We're going down fast. Hang onto something down there!" The pilot said.

The crash came much faster than I was mentally ready to process. The metal of the ship rang with impact and the kinetic force of the landing vibrated its way through my entire body. I fell out of my seat and bounced around on the floor a bit. Dehaka lost his grip on the ladder and bounced around in a rolling trajectory. His head landed on the floor and he let out a distressed yelping noise. Even in the excitement I grinned in amusement at this; Dehaka getting hurt was solid gold entertainment for my refined self.

The dropship lost speed as it plowed through the dry desert ground. When it finally came to a stop, it teetered to a leaned back position. "Whew!" The intercom said in the voice of an unhurt pilot. "Anyone alive down there?"

The big blue bastard was back on his feet, heading toward the boarding hatch. "Open, hold." He ordered. When the large hold door opened, right outside, standing on the dry nighttime desert ground was Broodmother Rindell, and right next to her, leaning forward on two hind feet, was a Cryolisk.

No questions asked. The Cryolisk blasted Dehaka, freezing him solid. I was still lain down from the crash, a tad disoriented. Rindell came up the ramp into the hold. She saw me, came over, and picked me up in her arms. I didn't raise an objection as she carried me outside.

As she walked silently, I looked back at the crash-landed dropship and saw ice formed around one of its rear engines. It had been precision-shot by the Cryolisk and made to seize up. I looked Rindell in the eyes while I was still cradled in her arms. The ship had crashed kilometers from Dehaka's base. "I… I can walk, you know." I said weakly.

" _I know."_

A simpering smile? Tears? A bombastic expression of joy at being rescued? No, as the reality of what she'd done for me sank in, and with no further griping at being carried, I hugged Rindell tightly around the neck. No words were necessary.


	12. Birth of Syrenne Haelstrom

I got to catch the sun rising over the desert plains of Korhal, distant from any towns or giant urban centers. Rindell was with me, as was the Cryolisk who survived the Mesa. Our foot tracks were covered behind us by the wind, and when the non-psychic Dehaka thawed he'd have no way of knowing which direction we went.

I quite enjoyed being carried in Rindell's arms, and the Broodmother would not have gotten tired, but eventually I hopped off and walked on my own feet. And then myself, Rindell and the Cryolisk started walking faster. All three of us were Zerg, and we had high-energy, high-stamina metabolisms with advanced physiological construction. It wasn't long before we all broke into free, almost tireless running, not needing to say a word about doing so. I'd taken point, and adjusted our route in the direction of the distant metallic skyline of Augustgrad Proper.

Rindell broke our long silence. _"Are we returning to the city, my Princess?"_

" _Eventually."_ I said with my psionic voice. _"Let me know if you see a gas station on one of the roads. An airfield might work as well."_

" _What are your plans?"_

" _I've been going about this all wrong, Rindell. I realize that now. Our strategy is going to change, and I'm going to step out of my comfort zone."_

" _I do not know what you've done before this."_

That's right, I realized. Rindell hasn't seen me since we split up at the Embassy. _"Let's just say that I'm on Korhal, but I was fighting as though it was still Sephulli."_

" _Fighting whom, my Princess?"_

As we ran across the mostly flat desert terrain, I realized I'd need to start from the beginning to catch my gal up on everything. _"Okay, it all began when I heard a voice, which took me to the Grey Mesa…"_

* * *

The morning light always cast a beautiful golden shimmer through the windows of Chomper's Gas Station. Its owner, a simple man named Dan, always savored opening the store at this hour, with the cold night transferring into hot, parched daytime. He was accompanied by a snub-nosed dog who walked with a stocky stride on four broad legs.

The station was at a middle point between the towering metropolis of Augustgrad, and a smaller outlying settlement connected by a not entirely asphalt road. A titanic amount of money and resources had been invested into transforming the desert planet into a worthy capitol for the Dominion, however the centralized, top-down structure of these investments left many settlements and infrastructure in the condition it was circa Brood War. The result was giant metal cities that were within driving distance of frontier towns with farms and cattle.

A wide variety of fuel was sold at the station, as it was in any other ordinary station. Technology advanced quickly and ended up adopting so many varieties of fuel with different manufacturers on different worlds, from ethanol to fossil fuels to hydrogen to Vespene, it was wise to stock in everything. Vespene Gas was more efficient than all the others; in a refined state it allowed a vehicle to run for days without refueling. But the limited supply of Vespene limited its use to industrial machines, aerospace vessels and the Military, preventing it from completely supplanting other energy sources. Most vehicles that passed through ran on ethanol, fossil fuels or hydrogen, depending on how old they were.

No sooner did the simple man named Dan unlock the glass door and start cleaning his counter that the day's first customer appeared in front of the door. No vehicle was parked at any pumps outside, implying they'd arrived on foot. He looked up in that direction, and was immediately startled. "What'n the hell…"

Outside the door was the Zerg Princess gal he saw on the television. She was peering curiously inside. Right behind her was a hideous Zerg monstrosity on a formation of feet who the television said was her bodyguard. There was also what looked like a giant, scaly rabbit with big ears and everything. The simple man named Dan was speechless, but nonetheless he kept his nerves. "Come on in." He called in a rustic accent. "We is open, ma'am."

"Perfect!" The girl's perfectly human-sounding vocal cords were audible as she pushed the door open and came inside. "You are a lifesaver, I must say."

A single bark erupted from the snub-nosed dog. He came around from behind the counter and trotted up to the Zerg girl. "Well hello there!" She said, looking down at it and smirking as she lowered to a crouch. "Hey there puppy!" The dog was ecstatic, running circles around her and standing briefly on his hind feet."

"Don't be mindin' Clamps there." Dan said. "He gets all excited when he meets new people."

"Rindell, do you see this little critter?" The girl was looking outside through the still slightly open glass door. "He's adorable!"

" _It looks delicious, my Princess."_ An entirely alien voice replied from the monstrous-looking creature just outside the door.

"Whose a good boy? Whoos a good boy?" The girl had a baby voice as she gently scratched the sides of the dogs wrinkly, stocky neck. "You are!" The dog was evidently pleased with the attention.

"There… somethin' I can help you with, ma'am?" Said the simple man named Dan.

"Yes." She shot to her feet and walked up to the counter. "I was wondering if you had something… ah, like a radio."

"Yeah we got radios. Lookin' for some short wave? I got full sets at forty credits apiece."

She snapped her fingers into a pointing gesture at him. "That is a hell of an offer and I'll get back to you on it. But actually, I need one that can send and recieve…" She swirled a hand through the air, hesitant to say it out loud. "Advanced encryption algorithms."

"Just… for radio comms?"

"Yes."

"And… d'you want it installed in your car?"

"I'll get back to you on that as well." She was cheerful and energetic. "But right now I need it handheld and battery-powered; the smaller the better.

The simple man named Dan nodded knowingly. He crouched down under his desk and came back up with a hard plastic case which contained a tiny black earpiece with speaker holes and a tuning dial. He set it on the counter. "You'll be wantin' the Blacktooth three point-oh."

"Oh, yeah. These are great." She picked up the case, and then put it down. "What's the price of this?"

"It'll set you back two hundred and eighty credits."

She had a dour look. "That's highway robbery. Eighty credits."

"Supply and demand, young miss." He shrugged. "They've been real hard to come by since the ban. But if you're not interested…" he put a finger on the plastic case lying on the counter, sliding it in toward himself."

"Hold on now." She put her own finger on it, stopping him from sliding it. "I'm despera— I mean, I might still be mildly interested in this thing. What do you say to a middle ground? One eighty and we both walk away smelling nice."

"Three hundred." He was relaxed.

She suddenly had a glare. "You sucky waffle crust! That's higher than your asking price."

" _My Princess, is there a problem?"_ The monstrous creature was leaning inside, pushing open one door.

"We're fine, Rindell. Just haggling." She'd turned halfway around to say this to her before snapping her gaze back at the simple man named Dan. "Sell the Blacktooth to me for a reasonable price, or else I'll…" Her gaze darted around, trying to think of something. "I'll… I'll kick your cute dog."

"No you won't."

She twitched. "What time do you go to bed, my good man?"

"At 'round ten. Why?"

Her eyes had become vengeful slits. "I could come back then... with a knife…"

He just shrugged. "Two eighty."

"Deal!" She was grinning with triumph. "You made the right decision my friend." She inputted a long digital key code into a pad mounted on the counter, followed by the value _280_ and then enter.

"Yeah, I know I did." Said the simple man named Dan as he let her take the Blacktooth. _"Account identified."_ Spoke a mechanical voice from the keypad. _"Transaction complete."_

"Have a nice day!" The Zerg girl waved as she exited the gas station building.

Once she was outside, and walking alongside Rindell and the Cryolisk, she took out the Blacktooth and began fiddling with its dial and center button. A tiny digital screen was the only feedback to what she was doing. All of her allies used a specially encrypted channel to communicate, and she'd dropped her radio when Dehaka kidnapped her at the Olympus Facility. This meant she had to set up the algorithm on a new device to get in contact with them.

Saraslha was immensely pleased with herself at the price she'd gotten. "Never haggle with a Zerg…" She muttered braggadociosly under her breath.

* * *

 **The Past**

When Gabriel Tosh saw Saraslha get kidnapped by the blue Zerg, and when he was ordered to fire freely on her kidnapper, he'd taken a first shot and then leaped from his vantage point, still cloaked, and ran after the creature. He wasn't as fast as Dehaka, and gaining another shot at him through the winding, rocky terrain surrounding the Facility would be impossible.

During their planning, Keid had informed him of GenTek's own deadly covert ops forces, prompting him to post some of his Spectres in the surrounding area as sentries. Only one of them spotted Dehaka but then the connection cut off, and as Tosh asked for a status update, heading in that direction, he'd gotten no further word from this operative.

Spectres were all telepaths, and the only reason he'd be unable to report back is of he were unconscious or dead. As Tosh closed in on the area, he only caught a glimpse of a Medivac Dropship taking off from the elevated ground. He'd raised his rifle and taken several shots at it, but just hitting the moving aircraft would be a challenge through the wind and rapidly growing distance, much less striking a vital point which would disable it.

And then, as if to compound his quietly taken frustrations in the moment, a much more sizable flying object came low over the jagged terrain from the direction of the Olympus facility. It looked like an ovular, teardropped bulb of metal with a single large thruster in the rear, and a sequence of glowing blue exhaust ports which ringed around the bulb shaped frame in circumference. After flying through the air for several seconds, it immediately entered Warp Space and vanished.

His earpiece communicator received a message from Marchen. _"Tosh, the Chronos has escaped."_

"I noticed…" He said in a low voice. "Tell the mercs to come this way fast. We gotta rescue the client."

A brief moment of silence. _"…they're on their way."_

But their pursuit was not to be. Immediately following this, Tosh got a telepathic message from Saraslha, telling him to call off the attack.

* * *

 **The Present**

When Dehaka had been frozen by the Cryolisk, the Dropship pilot came down the ladder from the cockpit, and found her boss frozen solid next to the open ramp of the hold. Unable to move him outside to the morning sun, she found an electric heater in a crate in the corner of the hold and plugged it in, holding it up to him as it blew and sped up his thawing.

Eventually, Dehaka's head and vocals were warm enough to speak again. "Warm, middle chest, middle chest." There was a tone of urgency in his voice.

The pilot complied, chewing gum relaxedly as she moved the heater there. The blue Primal Zerg purred loudly with relief as this part of himself was warmed. "Ice, uncomfortable. Becomes, water, hate, water." He was indeed wet from the melting ice.

"Quit griping, ya big baby." The Dropship pilot said. "I've alerted base, and they've got Hellion patrols out on the roads. Not much one of 'em can do against a Broodmother, but they'll alert you if they spot the Princess."

"Dropship, is, operational?" Dehaka was now moving his arm again; it was still extremely stiff, but it had blood flowing through it again.

"Engine three's out in the sun, so it should be thawed enough to start pretty soon."

"Fly me, back, to surface base. Must contact," An inhaling growl. "Admiral Horner, report, delay."

"You got it sir." She hit a button which shut the cargo ramp, darkening the hold as its interior lights came on. She left the heater on the floor next to Dehaka, blowing on his feet as she headed back over to the cockpit ladder.

* * *

"And that's the situation." Emperor Valerian said, his hands on a terrace railing of the Palace as he saw the sunlight illuminate the Augustgrad cityscape. "Dehaka actually managed to get his hands on her, but she escaped. This tells us she's still on Korhal, and also that she doesn't want to be found. It's an important assignment, and I wanted to brief you myself."

Nova Terra sighed, leaning back against a support beam behind him. "What's that girl gotten herself into..?"

"If something happens to her here, I… don't know what Zagara's response would be, but it won't be good for us and I highly doubt it'd be rational."

"I suppose if you had a child, and they visited a different empire and was assassinated there, your response wouldn't be rational either, would it?"

Valerian shook his head. "It wouldn't, but I have advisors, officials, Admiral Horner and the peoples' sentiments to keep me in check. The Overqueen, on the other hand… is a dictator, if she wants war then not a single part of her empire would resist her or question it."

Nova was frowning with thought. "If the Zerg attacked us the Daelaam would intervene, out of a desire to curb a future threat to themselves if nothing else. Zagara must be aware of this."

"The military Brass assures me it would be a long and grueling conflict, even with the Daelaam on our side. And victory against the Zerg… is never guaranteed." He took another breath, seeing the active city below but not processing it. "The Koprulu Sector's three superpowers are at peace with one another. This is a fragile trinity, and it could be Korhal's failure; our failure, to protect a foreign dignitary that destroys that peace."

"That's not going to happen." Nova said forcefully, standing straight from leaning on the support. "This Dehaka guy may have screwed up, but I never screw up."

"You know her personally, don't you?" Valerian turned around, away from the view to face her. "From the events on Sephulli."

"Yeah, I do." She said lightly, nodding lightly. "She can be… kind of a handful, and she's heir to rule the most barbaric, genocidal race to ever make it off their homeworld. But…" She looked downward, a light twinge of sympathy in her eyes. "Whoever's targeting her, whatever crap she's getting from certain members of our kind; Humanity… she doesn't deserve it."

"Two of the Daelaam went off on her as well, the night she introduced the trade deal to us. I…" He shook his head. "I made a foolish call, to have invited her to roam the city freely. If she could be the target of a Protoss' prejudice, then she could certainly get it from humans."

Nova laughed at this, only a little. "Whether you invited her to the roam the city or not, she would have done as she pleased. That girl gets what she wants, devil take the details."

This got the Emperor to laugh as well, only a little. "I suppose you're right. You'll have to deny her, though, to accomplish your mission. Given all the indication she doesn't want to be retrieved." He shook his head. "I don't envy you this task, Nova Terra. The report states Dehaka got hurt pretty bad when he tried."

"I'd best get to it, then." On this note, she turned and left. Her cloaking activated effortlessly.

* * *

When I input the encryption algorithm into my new Blacktooth, I called my followers, reaching them through all the jumble and confusion of Augustgrad's millions of conscious, minimally psionic minds which made me afraid to enhance my telepathic awareness.

A Dropship came to pick me, Rindell and the Cryolisk up in the middle of the barren desert. Keid was waiting for us inside the hold; I wanted to talk to him right away so I asked that he come. He explained more at length that GenTek's heavies attacked the Olympus facility in a bid to take it back. They'd fought off the first wave easily, but more were on their way so they made an escape. The Chronos got away before they destroyed it. Once I was caught up on events, I got to the thing I wanted to ask him about.

He was frowning with thought at what I requested, sitting across from me on the middle bench of the hold.. "That's… certainly an interesting request, Princess."

"Can you do it?"

"I can't." He was shaking his head. "But I know someone who can."

" _Why do you speak to this human so cordially, my Princess?"_ Rindell interjected, having listened in on our conversation. _"He does not call you master, and he is not an equal, like the Emperor."_

"Oh, right." I said, deciding to make introductions. "Keid this is Rindell, she's my protector. Rindell this is Keid Marchen. He used to be a GenTek scientist, but then helped me escape the Grey Mesa and in so doing made himself a dirty rotten traitor. But then he stopped to get me donuts and coffee, so I'm on the fence about firing him."

Rindell looked at him. _"Thank you for helping the Princess, dirty rotten traitor. She loves donuts and coffee."_

"Don't mention it." He was not bothered at being called that. "Her Brattiness spoke quite highly of you, Rindell."

Rindell looked at me now. _"What does that word mean, my Princess? Did he insult you?"_

"Of course I didn't." He said before I summoned the words. "Brattiness is a huge honorific, even more than majesty."

" _Very well, it is acceptable then."_

Seething with petty anger that would wear off in a few minutes, my arms crossed as I looked off. "Some scientist you are. Can't handle what I want done himself."

"A scientist is not a wizard, your Highness. It's outside my field; I know more than the average person, but not enough to apply it."

"Alright, fine then." I said. "Who can actually do what I want?"

"I'll contact him and arrange a meeting. It'll be up to you to convince him to work for you."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Who wouldn't want to work for me?"

"Right, of course." He had a phone out, and was typing a message. "Because you're just so charming."

I knew he was being sarcastic, my left eye twitched. "Care to unpack what you just said, Keid?"

"You have a charisma and speaking ability befitting a leader. A surprising number of people willingly and loyally follow you. And after meeting you in person, one sees why." He was texting as he said this, his eyes indifferently rested downward on the screen.

I wasn't expecting something that glowingly positive, and it made me flustered. I looked off. "Just, ah… just… just arrange that meeting, alright?"

"I'm emailing him right now."

I leaned forward, relaxing again, "what's his name?"

"Egon Stetmann. He has plenty of experience in the study and adaption of Xenotech and Xenobiology. He really… brought me out of my depth when he talked about it. Modifying Zerg cosmetics should be a cakewalk for him."

"Friend of yours?"

"We talked at a few conventions. He might already be employed somewhere, in which case you'll have to poach him."

"Poaching, that's…" The term evaded me a bit.

"Offer him a better deal so he leaves his old bosses for you."

"Yes!" I clapped at this. "That's the perfect thing to do if he's employed but I want him."

The dropship landed on the helipad atop the Hotel Marianne, connected directly to my penthouse. As we stood, Keid brought up a new topic. "There are a few other things I want to run by you: For one the manager of this hotel you bought, she wants to meet with you."

"Obviously, that's going to be a problem." I said as the ramp opened and we walked out onto a walled platform; concealed by surrounding walls long ago for safety and privacy reasons. "I'll have to put that off until Stetmann fulfills my request."

"Should all of the others be put off until then as well?"

I was frowning. "What others?"

"The variety of merc groups whose contracts you picked up have administrative offices who want to be in contact with you. There's also the City Council and associated government entities wishing to audit your finances and sort through a pile of tax and title forms since you now own a building in the city." His tiredness showed itself as dark, sleepless eye bags as we came through the door. Rindell and the Cryolisk were able to maneuver themselves through the opening. "Intentionally or not, you're building an empire, Saraslha, and there's minutia to every empire which must be seen to. I've had to tell everyone that I'm your secretary and would make sure this stuff reached you."

I processed this as I walked across the floor in a beeline toward the fridge in the kitchen area behind the bar. Tosh was present at the bar, as was the commander I'd appointed for my merc army. "I'll get a secretary." I said to Keid as I opened the fridge and took a bottle of Cola. "I need you elsewhere, putting together my Research and Development wing."

"You… really are building an empire, then?" He said. "Building… a company, it seems like."

"It's all part of our strategy change; this is what it looks like." I twisted the cap off my the bottle of Cola as I kicked the fridge shut. "My gigantic screwup at the Olympus facility was a learning experience, and I've taken it to heart." I said as I surveyed everyone in the room. "This is Korhal, and I've been going about fighting this enemy as though it's still Sephulli."

" _What would you have us do, my Princess?"_ Rindell was up to the bar as well, but unable to take a seat given her physiology.

After taking a long, patient gulp of my delicious Cola, I looked at Gabriel. "Tosh, your crew is on full espionage duty. You're to monitor GenTek's activities and intercept their agents wherever possible. Any compromising information you uncover comes directly to me. You've been in that gig a long time, and I trust you know the drill."

"I know it real well." He had an intent look. "Consider us be doin' it right."

"O'Malley." I turned next to my mercenary commander. "Your role is to protect our assets wherever they might be acquired or built. All my standard forces are to be put on standby, and allocated as needed as we expand. I leave the particulars to your discretion."

He nodded. "Yes ma'am. GenTek makes a move on your property, they'll eat bullets."

"Keid." I turned to my newly appointed head of R&D. "You're going to find real estate for laboratories and workshops, obtain whatever equipment and recruit whatever eggheads you deem necessary. If you can poach them from GenTek, all the better."

"What fields?" He asked.

"All of them eventually, but start with the more lucrative markets. I have a lot of capital, but it'll be important to get a cash flow going. I'll probably make a lot of specific directives depending on clientele I find so be ready for them."

"You're going to handle the business end of it, then?"

"Yep!" I perked up and took another sip of Cola. "Finding clients and suppliers; negotiating contracts, I'm going to run that department myself. I'll see about specific demands we can fill once we're set up and closer to the ground. Once Stetmann does… the thing you say he can do, it'll be easy."

He nodded. "Understood."

"Finally, Rindell." I turned to her. "You're in charge of my personal security. I have arrangements in place to fortify this building, and I'm turning management of that over to you. Kuraski won't stop making attempts until I'm dead; it's key for him. I expect you to do what you do best, but keep anything Zerg in nature concealed from public eyes."

Rindell nodded. _"Harm will not have so much as a glance on you, my Princess."_

"Alright," My hands semi-clapped with my Cola bottle in one of them. "We've all got a lot on our plates, now. Perform your duties well, all of you."

* * *

Nova Terra was once told by her trainers that if not for the artificial limiters placed on her psionic abilities, she'd have no control over whether she heard the minds of other people nearby, and a densely populated area would drown her in waves of incomprehensible mind language that she'd be unable to shut out.

This was not an issue with the modifications done on her, and she could reap all the benefits of being sensitive to other minds without the drawbacks, including searching for people at a specific Psi Index level. From her interactions with Saraslha, she estimated her to be a 7 at most, though this was complicated by Saraslha being a Zerg, and the Psi Index being designed to measure humans. That given, Zerg minds felt unique, and Nova would sense her if she was near.

Her search brought her to a public park at night. Concrete walkways with mowed grass and trees, a vague psionic presence brought her to this quiet place. And here, sitting alone, plain and visible, was its source.

Gabriel Tosh.

"Isn't this just lovely." Nova said sarcastically, not bothering to conceal herself from the Spectre as she decloaked. "You think just because you're not my target, I won't kill you?"

Tosh was in a rare case of dressing in civvies; black and white dress clothes tailored around his stocky physique, lacking a tie and worn in a slightly ragged but otherwise clean manner. "I do think that." He stated calmly. "We got some things to discuss, I believe." He indicated the empty area of the bench. "Do have a seat, girl."

Nova ignored that, walking in front of him and cradling her rifle in her hands. "What have you been up to, since leaving Raynor's Raiders? Nothing too shady or criminal, I hope."

He shrugged, relaxed and speaking in his usual deep voice. "I've got some prospects in the works. Doing a lucrative contract right now, for a real rich client."

"A really young client, right? Very demanding and energetic, I'm guessing."

Tosh was silent, he crooked an eyebrow, wary of giving away any further information.

"Oh, don't assume I don't know what's going on." Nova started pacing. "You've disguised your psionic signature to be almost identical to hers, and are drawing any psychic assassin looking for her to this quaint little park, where undoubtedly a number of your people have their crosshairs trained on them past all the tree trunks and through all the tree brush." She met his eyes. "Did I leave anything out?"

"You're aware of this…" He leaned forward. "And yet you let your guard down."

"I've got nothing to fear." She had a mild snideness. "Your client has denied you permission to shoot me, hasn't she?"

He frowned with annoyance at Nova's correct guess. "'Less you shoot first, you're not to be hurt, I've just been ordered."

"Oh… lordie." She broke into a smile. "I knew it." Nova was trying to hold back laughter now. "I don't envy you, Gabriel. She's a handful on the best of days."

Deciding there'd be no further point in trying to hide his client's identity, he leaned back in the bench again, sighing and propping his fingers on his head. "I… don't understand that girl, Nova. I really don't."

She almost wanted to feel sorry for Gabriel; she was able to leave Saraslha when she wanted, whereas he was contractually bound to her. "I've worked with her before. She's… a gifted tactician." She lifted her eyebrows, trying to offer something positive.

"Don't try and sugarcoat it." His tone was abnormally friendly and open in their dual roasting of the subject matter. "She offered to make you a Broodmother, yeah?"

"Oh god… constantly." Her face was drooping at recollecting the experience.

"I told her I'd consider it."

"So why not do it?" She had a snide look. "You'd be immensely more powerful; practically a super Spectre."

"And I'd be stuck wit' that girl the rest of my life." He countered calmly. "Would you do it?"

She tsked, a finger raised. But then she lowered it. "Good point."

"Sweating over her antics for my contract duration…" He was shaking his head. "It's a job."

"That's nothing. I was swallowed by a—Gabriel," Her hand was raised, stopping him from interrupting as she paced. "I got swallowed, by a Nydus Worm. Do you understand, Tosh? She talked me into letting a… a giant freaking Worm swallow me."

He crooked an eyebrow. "Was it fast?"

He'd asked, and now her verbal floodgate was open. "Imagine an inhumanely fast rollercoaster, and you're completely wrapped in a slick, lubricated membrane that's slithering all over you, head to toe the entire time."

"It was fast, though. And you came out just fine?"

"That's hardly the point…" She stopped pacing to look at him, speaking in a distressed tone.

Tosh had a quiet belly laugh at this. "She's… just brought out our emotional side, to boot."

"I... suppose she did." She sighed, sobering; becoming serious again. "Gabriel… I won't ask you to tell me where she is. You have obligations, just as I do. I just want to ask…"

"Sure…"

She looked him in the eye. "Don't let anything happen to her, alright? I…" She stopped, trying to find the words.

"You care about the Zerg girl, then?"

"I genuinely believe she's a good person. She can be childish, naive, and… she's a Zerg through and through, there's no getting around that. But I genuinely think… that she's good inside. Is that… crazy to say?"

Gabriel's hands were knit as he leaned back in his park bench. "Maybe good, maybe bad, that's all superficial." He was shaking his head. "We're all people, all with interests; sometimes they clash, then sometimes they align."

Nova had become completely serious and composed once again. "Are you still looking to burn the Dominion to the ground, Gabriel?"

"Your little Emperor can stay outta my hair, and I'll stay outta his." He stared at her intently. "If I wanted to put the hurt on the Dominion, I'd have killed the Zerg Lass and sparked a war." He then relaxed again. "But I haven't, and there's your proof I'm not lying."

"If I find her, then I have no doubt the two of us will end up fighting, since it's obvious she doesn't want to be rescued."

He just shrugged. "You'll talk to her first I'm sure." His eyes looked up for a brief second, then back at her again. "I just got a message, she wants me to tell you: Best of luck in your search, Ghost Lady."

* * *

"I… I'm not comfortable with this. It's not, ah…" Egon Stetmann lightly bit his own semi-closed fist. "Not what I had in mind."

They were in the steel and concrete basement of the Hotel Marianne; a clear open area which the staff had been asked to vacate. Saraslha was there, as was Rindell and Keid.

"Are you getting yellow?" Keid had a hand on his upper back, having just walked him down to this area where he then saw the Zerg. "What's the problem, Doctor Stetmann? The money's good, and you can handle it in your sleep."

"It… feels illegal." His voice had reached a high pitch as he said this. "That's the missing princess— I, I don't know what's going on, here."

"The job opportunity of a lifetime." Saraslha said, stepping forward. Stetmann looked at her. "I'm building something here for the long haul; something meant to last, and this is your chance to get in on the ground floor."

Stetmann looked leftward, afraid to refuse and afraid to say yes. "I… all of Raynor's Raiders got a fresh start. My time working with a rebel organization was put behind me!" He slashed an open hand through the air. "Th-this feels like a temptation, back to the shady side."

"You're a man of science, Stetmann." Keid said, his hand off and turned to face him from the flank. "Where is all this moral grandstanding coming from?"

"That's easy for you to say, Marchen. You went to work for GenTek, some of the shadiest people in the Dominion."

"GenTek is awesome." Keid was indignant. "If Kuraski hadn't gone off the deep end I'd still be with them, doing dangerous and illegal work all day long."

"I knew it!" he backed off, pointing his finger at Saraslha. "Once I've done the operation on… on you, you're gonna have me doing all sorts of questionable things, then my criminal record is back where it was in the Raiders."

"Egon Stetmann." Saraslha addressed, stepping closer. "Tell me:…" Her expression brightened, and she spoke with a casual friendliness. "How easy would it be for you to fulfill my request?"

"Oh, pretty easy." He was nodding, drawn into talking about his comfort zone: pure, objective science. "Cosmetics are by far the easiest traits to modify in a living Zerg. They can change their color practically at will. With a little harder prodding on the exterior level, I can generate one tiny area with the trait you wish, and then have it regenerate itself over the rest of the exterior, supplanting the old flesh in a matter of… minutes!" He was nodding.

"And my nerve cords?"

"I… can't change those." He had a finger up. "But if I can locate the genetic code that determines the scale, they can be shrunk to the size of more regular hairs, making them impossible to discern without a magnifying glass."

She had a huge smile. "That's really impressive, Stetmann, I'm not gonna lie."

"Oh, well…" He scratched behind his own head bashfully. "Thanks."

"And you know… I can probably find someone else, it's no big deal if you're not comfortable doing it. You may leave." She shrugged.

"Hold—hold on just a second." He had his hands together, stepping forward toward her. "I just… don't want to work for you and then reach a point where you've crossed the line, and once that happens I'm not allowed to leave… That, that's my worry."

Saraslha smiled at this, shaking her head. "I expect you to abide by your non-disclosure agreements, but if you want to leave, you can leave. I don't keep slaves, and that's never going to change."

Stetmann looked at her, then at the Broodmother, then at Keid. "And why are you working with her?"

"Kuraski tried to have her killed. I found that objectionable, so I defected."

"He's free to leave too, if he chooses." Saraslha continued. "You can do this one thing, take your money and leave. But if it's successful, I'm offering you a more permanent place in my organization. Keid here is putting together my Research and Development wing. It's worthy work and you'll be doing what you're good at."

Stetmann was on the fence; the context of the meeting had been sprung on him, but the offer was really good. One eye winced as he weighed this. "…Alright."

Saraslha beamed at this, pleased. "You've made a wise career move, Egon Stetmann."

* * *

"So we can be certain it was Kuraski." The Emperor said, seated in the currently unused, quiet conference chamber. "The incident happening at his compound wasn't just coincidence."

"Bear in mind this is a report from our spies, Valerian." Admiral Horner said, the only other person in the room. "The actual investigation has no evidence indicting Kuraski."

"The Throne has always had association with the nation's biggest economic leaders." Valerian was looking at Horner. "I know David Kuraski; I've sat down and eaten with him before. What kind of insane motivation would prompt him to try and assassinate the Princess?"

"I don't know, but I think it gives us a clue on Saraslha's motives. She knows it was him, and there's no way she'll let something like that slide. She's not leaving Korhal until Kuraski is dead."

"And there we have our solution." Valerian's fingers were tapping the table. "We put Kuraski to the firing squad, Saraslha returns to the safety of the Palace and eventually Char, and our crisis is averted."

"Put him to the firing squad with what? The evidence our spies gleaned illegally? It'd be impermissible in court."

"What about the investigation? They're bound to find something." Valerian tapped harder, anxiously.

"I think…" Horner shook his head. "Kuraski may have a lot of pull over the people in charge of that. Halfhearted questioning, sweeping evidence under the rug… It's nothing we can prove, that's how corruption works."

Valerian's teeth were clenched, he was looking down at the table, away from Horner. "Then we'll set something up. Leak evidence to somebody, forge it if we need to, make it look legitimate."

"People would find out. You'd be prosecuting somebody with a rigged masquerade of due process. A high-profile person, whether guilty or not would be behind bars on nothing but the Emperor's decree." Horner stepped forward, his voice elevating. "How do you think the public would view that? You'd be a dictator."

"I don't give a damn!" Valerian suddenly yelled as he shot to his feet, backhanding a glass of water off the table. It flew across the room, shattering on the floor. "This is a war with the Zerg, the goddamn Zerg we're trying to avert." He was glaring toward Horner. "I'll prosecute whoever's necessary, and then do it again tomorrow, and the day after that. I'll put every Kuraski in the Dominion…" he pointed off, toward the main doors as he continued shouting at Horner. "Straight into New Folsom if it protects Humanity."

"Valerian…" Matt Horner had a glare of his own now; a venomous one. "You're sounding… like your father."

This gave the Emperor pause. He bit his tongue, turning away as he glared down at the table, propping his arms on it. "It… it isn't—"

"You've seen what lies down that path, Valerian. Your father justified a great number of things in the name of protecting Humanity. And then, a victim he left behind; a victim he more than once thought he could squash like a bug became the most powerful ruler imaginable. She came for his head, and it was Humanity that suffered."

"It's so hard, Matt…" His voice had softened, and now his head cradled in a propped hand. "Wearing his boots, and then trying to walk a better road in them. It's not something a frail human was designed to endure." His head shook. "Every problem we face is lain at my feet, and if Zagara invades us, that'll be my fault as well."

Admiral Horner had softened as well. "I don't think… you're giving your people enough credit, Valerian. Their complaints and criticisms being directed at you doesn't mean if you fail to address them, they'll demand your head on a plate."

"It certainly feels that way. It feels as though I'm a babysitter, and if I'm not there to watch, people will hurt themselves. Is it such an evil to keep them confined and ignorant so that doesn't happen?"

Horner sighed, looking off, backward toward the terrace. "We humans are a whiny, complaintive people, and we make stupid decisions on a daily basis. All that said and accepted, when their backs are to the wall, people, and I mean all people, defend themselves. And when allowed freedom, they pursue their interests and are productive. When ignorant, they educate themselves. And when flawed, they improve. They don't need an emperor to make them do this; they only need him to not stop them."

Valerian huffed, a hint of laughter as he shook his head. "You've… a faith in Humanity I can't hope to match."

"We don't have to take drastic steps to help the Princess." Horner stepped closer to Valerian, behind one of the other chairs. "Your people will do that on their own, because it's in their interest to do so. The pressure you're experiencing Is just the fallout from your father's lack of faith in them. It won't last forever."

Valerian made the deepest, most releasing of sighs. "I'm not… going to take draconian measures, Matt. It was just the heat of the moment. I've put too much into proving I'm not like my father to just throw it all away in a fit of anger."

"Yeah, I know." Matt nodded. "Listen… in my spare hours, I socialize with military people, as well as old friends. You're welcome to join us, you're… well liked there."

Valerian smiled at this, looking downward. "Thank you, Matthew. I appreciate the offer, but at times like this I'm best alone."

Horner nodded, twice tapping the chair he stood behind. "The offer remains open. I… have things to see to." He turned, and headed out of the conference room.

* * *

"Okay, procedure's complete." I heard Stetmann say in his fast, boyish voice. "I think that went swimmingly, don't you?"

The upright, leaning glass pod I lay inside, concealed with mist, opened in a release of a slight pressure. When I stepped out I felt my feet get cold and poked into by the rough texture of the basement's concrete floor. I also felt cold air on my flesh in far greater susceptibility. I wanted to raise a hand to my face to look at it, but stopped out of nervousness.

"Have a look, Saraslha." Keid offered me a hand mirror. Slowly, and with short, nervous breaths, I raised it to my face.

I was human. My nerve cords had been shrunk and made more abundant, and pigmented pure raven color, making them identical to human hair. The carapace was gone, and my flesh all the same color all over. I was looking at a mirror; I was looking at a Terran.

"It… won't fool a DNA test." Stetmann explained. "Or a thermal scan, or X-Ray- you're the same on the inside. But to the human eye, you're… well, human."

" _Your mind and scent are the same, my Princess."_ Rindell said, having watched the procedure. _"Will this really fool the Terrans?"_

"It's the perfect disguise." Keid said. "Any assassin on GenTek's payroll could walk right by you on the street and not identify you."

"I do need to be able to walk on the streets. That's the main purpose of this." I said.

Keid took his phone out. "I'm messaging the manager of your hotel. She'll meet you in the lobby in ten minutes."

I nodded at this. "Good. I've got a lot of people to meet with, now that I can meet with people."

"Don't do it in the nude though. That's lesson one on acting human." Keid turned to leave, still typing.

"Right, yeah, like I wasn't aware of that." I rebutted.

He waved backward as he headed to the stairs out of the basement. "I'm off to put together your R&D Department, Princess. Stetmann, if you want a long-term job, just email me."

"Sure thing, Marchen." Egon said after him as he disappeared up the stairway.

My petty annoyance was quickly supplanted by the discomfort of the cold basement. Now I knew what Stukov was talking about when he said humans wore clothes to keep warm. Stetmann was averting his gaze politely. "Rindell," I said. "Is it ready, the thing we talked about?"

" _Of course, my Princess."_ She picked it up off a table: a new violet velvet dress which she'd tailored for me. I walked out onto the open floor, spreading my arms as she walked up to me with it.

"I… suppose my work here is done?" Stetmann said.

" _You must create a disguise for me as well, Doctor Stetmann."_

"Oookay… that'd be a lot more complicated, see." He talked really fast. "You're not humanoid, and even if you could be bent and twisted around, I'd still need a way to reduce your mass…" Rindell was looking at him, crooking her head curiously. "Or condense it, maybe." He was evidently nervous.

"Think you could do it?" I said looking over to him. "I'd rather not go places without my bodyguard."

"I'll have to… wow." He was looking at me directly, now that I was clothed. "You're… your human-looking self is…" he scratched the side of his face, looking off, this time for a different reason as his face reddened. "Really cute."

" _Of course,"_ Rindell said. _"She is the cutest Zerg of all."_

When Rindell finished dressing me, I walked up to the table he was behind, smiling brightly. "Think you could do it, Stetmann?"

"Ah… sure, why not?" He grinned at me. "I'll just have to put some kind of procedure together. Surgery is easy when your patient is as hard to kill as a Broodmother." He looked over my shoulder. "That is if you're okay with excruciating pain, Rindell."

" _I will endure any pain, if it is to protect Saraslha."_ Rindell answered.

'Saraslha'… I sampled my name in my mind. I'd have to go by a new name; everybody in the Dominion knew who the Swarm's Princess was. And now I was a human alter-ego. "While I look like this, my name is not Saraslha or Princess. You all need to call me by my handle."

" _What is this handle?"_

The name I put on the documentation I'd already signed. The name I went by online. "Syrenne, Syrenne Haelstrom."

"A serene hailstorm…" Stetmann flavored the name. "An elegant oxymoron if I've ever heard one."

"Thank you, I thought of it myself." I said sweetly, turning to leave the basement with my disguise complete. "Let me know if you've found a way to do Rindell.

"S- sure thing, Miss Haelstrom." He answered shyly.

" _Sa- Syrenne…"_ Rindell called after.

"I won't leave the hotel without you." I said as I approached the stairs. "Get to me once Stetmann's done with you."

I emerged in the ground floor of the hotel, where the air was much warmer. There were people about, but they all passed by me indifferently. In spite of being recently bought, the hotel had continued operations as normal. I wasn't raising a panic, or any kind of funny look. My disguise was working. The hard granite floor was less cold beneath my feet as I walked along the broad corridor toward the lobby.


	13. Bloodless Campaign

**7 Days Later**

It had been over a week since Zagara's child went to Korhal. Things were happening there, and the Overqueen had only a vague idea as to what it was. She had to resist the temptation to go there personally and get to the bottom of it. Whatever it was, it was Saraslha's battle, and she wouldn't intervene.

A large flying Zerg crossed her view in the skies near the upper levels of her Primary Cluster. It was sizable; not near as big as a Leviathan, but nonetheless it stood out in the flocks of Overlords and Mutalisks. It had a long, serpent-like main body with dual lengths of swelling along its back, and two columns of teardrop-shaped pods attached to its underbelly. It was a recently matured material freighter, and was heading into orbit without a load. Its destination was another Swarm-controlled world, whose senior Broodmother had deep-mantle mining operations going and was cranking out Zeta Compound like fungus.

Zagara only took a percentage; a commission for organizing the deal, of revenue from the Broodmothers who decided to mine and sell the Compound. If the Dominion's market demand continued as it was, these Broodmothers would soon become the richest individuals in the Koprulu Sector. Terran freighters also ended up making deliveries to Zerg worlds; purchases made by Broodmothers with money. They had even begun using credits to trade amongst themselves for everything from resources to Zerg strains to Leviathans to territory. Whether this trade deal had unleashed a monster or a miracle remained to be seen.

"You've been staring at the lovely scenery a lot, Zagara." The voice came from Alexei Stukov, approaching from the Overqueen's flank. "It's not hard to guess your thoughts. Without the little one around you're like a statue: dignified, but idle and somber."

" _It is not hard to guess your thoughts either. You cannot go to Korhal, Stukov."_ Zagara was shaking her head. _"If Valerian Mengsk learned I allowed an infested agent to operate on his planet without his knowledge, it would damage our relations, to say the least."_

"Yeah… I understand that. That's not why I'm bothering you. I have a letter from Saraslha. It's addressed to you."

" _A paper letter?"_ Zagara was suddenly alert, walking up to Stukov. "You _must give it to me, immediately."_

"Hold just a minute..." he held the leather envelope out of reach when Zagara swiped for it. "Say the magic word, Zagara."

" _Relinquish my daughter's letter, or I'll rip you to small pieces, starting with your fingers!"_

He tsked, pondering that. "…Close enough." He gave her the letter.

She sliced the waterproof, flame-retardant envelope open with the tip of a claw, and took the paper out with telekinesis. When she unfolded the pages, they read:

 _Dear Mother_

 _I'm doing quite well, (Don't believe the stories~). I got the war funds you sent, and I promise they're being put to good use. What kicked off my infamous disappearance was I got lured away from our embassy in Augustgrad to some remote compound, and there I met Niadra. She's alive, mom! Or… at least she was. She'd become an original Hybrid, and to put a cherry on it tried to kill me. I sliced off her head, though. This setup was a ploy by David Kuraski to assassinate me and… I assume cause you to declare war. Izsha had no idea what I was doing and I hid it from her, so please don't blame her for anything._

 _I had help from a Terran, who went behind his employers to get me out of the Hybrid's compound. This makes him a traitor, of course. But I think I see his reasons, even if I'd never admit that to his face. He's delightfully workaholic for a Terran, like a Mister Hydralisk that I can actually talk to. I told him to put together an entire branch of my organization and he was just like "sure."_

"What does it say?' Stukov was curious, leaning in to see.

" _Be quiet."_ Zagara shoved him away. _"You can read it when I'm done."_

 _As you read this I'm putting together an organization; what Terrans would call a company or corporation. I'm running it as my human alter-ego: Syrenne Haelstrom. I've got ace people working for me; you'd like them, and the Dominion's economy has nowhere to go but up. I might not even kill Kuraski for the crap he pulled. Bankrupting him, absorbing his company and leaving him in penniless disgrace would be even more satisfying. I've learned that money has a power over the Terrans which even the Emperor can't fully emulate. Rindell described money as their Queen, and that's the part of their species I've decided to conquer and dominate._

 _I'm doing what Is proper for a Zerg: I'm adapting to thrive in my environment, this densely populated, urban environment called Korhal. And I'm doing as you taught me, mom: I'm doing more than destroying my enemy, I'm appropriating what makes them strong and wielding that for my own benefit. I'm absorbing their essence and taking the accompanying traits and capabilities for myself, not by taking their genetic material. I'm doing it in an all new way, an all new dimension of evolution; one done in the realm of knowledge and methodology._

 _I love you dearly, mother. And seeing as you haven't come to Augustgrad yourself to knock on doors and raze everything to the ground, I appreciate your restraint. Rest assured that this is an experience, a challenge like no other. The overqueen you want me to be will be of such an original nature you could never anticipate or plan for her. I know that's exactly what you want, and what the Swarm needs._

– _Saraslha_

 _P.S. Tell Stukov I'm sorry he had to sit this one out. Next time, I promise._

There was an almost choked up expression in Zagara's eyes as she read the last of it. _"I love you as well, Saraslha…"_ Her claw tapped gently on the paper as it floated with telekinesis.

"Are you..?" Stukov patiently awaited his turn.

" _I wish to keep this letter. Return it to me intact when you're done."_ She said as she let him pick it out of the air.

* * *

It felt good to write a letter home. Mom was no doubt lonely on Char. She had an empire to run and plenty to do, but still, she was more human than most people realized. One clause of the Trade Deal gave the Primary Cluster its own mailing coordinates, and so a delivery drone was able to land there.

I was seated aboard a passenger ship; a ticket ferry which transported people between star systems. It was a mass transit setting, with many other faces visible in other rows of other seats. My legs were crossed within the knee-length velvet dress which Rindell had made for me, and I was looking off in boredom.

A woman in a dark pantsuit was seated next to me, closer to the isle letting me have the window. She was a giant by human standards; more then 200 centimeters tall with a combed back mane of blonde hair, and leaned forward in her almost too small of a seat, even more incapable than me of relaxing. She turned to look at me. "Is there anything you require, Miss Haelstrom?"

"You asked me that five minutes ago, Lednir. And again, no. We have to kill time while being transported. I know it stinks, but you have to deal."

"I'm very bored…"

Keid was sitting across from us, he looked up from a book he was reading. "Perhaps Her Brattiness would like a Cola?"

"Yeah, sure." I waved it off. "Get me a Cola, Lednir."

"Excuse me…" The giant woman extended an arm out to the isle way, stopping a passing stewardess.

She was startled by this. "Oh!" She seemed to almost lose her footing. "You don't know your own strength, ma'am." She tried to laugh it off.

"Might I trouble you for a bottle of Cola?"

"Of course. Just a moment." She nodded politely as she moved on.

"I'm proud of you, Lednir." I said as I elbowed her arm. "You were super polite and didn't even threaten her. I'm pleased."

"Thank you, my—I mean, Miss Haelstrom."

Still bored, I looked across at Keid, at his reading. His ability to pass time joyously annoyed me, so I decided to make him talk to me. "So, care to explain why you set up our first major facility on Tarsonis of all places?" Tarsonis was formerly the capitol of the Confederacy; a defunct government which pre-dated the Dominion. A Zerg invasion by the Overmind's Swarm reduced its population to a token level, and in current day it's a salvage world, populated by Terrans and Feral Zerg alike. It was our destination.

"That's easy to explain." He didn't deviate from reading. "Low taxes, inexpensive labor, ready access to raw materials, and while Dominion regulations are present on paper, we can ignore most of them without consequence. We're not ready to acquire or build anything big on Korhal."

"It's hazardous." I argued. "Only a handful of settlements are safe, and that's because they're well fortified. There are Feral Zerg, and sometimes raiders make a target of the place."

"GenTek is subject to the same dangers if they land a hit squad on the planet." Keid said, no longer reading. "The difference is we're on the defensive and don't need to move. Your Head of Security O'Malley has posted an adequate garrison."

Terran forces were at their best when they were defending and didn't have to relocate; there was merit in his assessment. "Fine, it was a good call." I conceded, deciding to change the subject. "What's the manufacture rate of our newest product?"

"The Purpletooth we developed skirts around any copyright issue with existing devices, and makes it through a loophole in the ban while doing all the same things as the Blacktooth. We have two lines running in your Tarsonis plant producing a thousand units an hour, with a third line in operation by the time of… your arrival there."

I was leaning forward now, engaged in the conversation. "Sales have only been so-so, though; within projected levels, but no higher."

Keid frowned with thought at this. I was invisibly pleased with myself at getting him out of his book. "You're still an unknown; people don't know the brand. A reputation is the only way to inform the populace at large that you're not swindling them or peddling snake oil."

My smile showed itself. "And that's why I'm selling them at cost; they're not putting us in the black. The Purpletooth is my gift to every poor sod out there who wanders into a gas station and has to haggle for an overpriced Blacktooth."

"You're a very generous and noble young lady, Syrenne." He was opening his book again indifferently.

I was silently fuming at his sarcastic jab. "Yeah well you… built my first plant on a dangerous-arse world."

"You said it was my call." There was no defensiveness in his tone; he stated it plainly.

"Your Cola, ma'am." A polite voice said from the isle. It was the Stewardess.

The very tall woman next to me accepted it and passed it along to me. Eager, I got its twisty cap off.

The Stewardess stopped in place, pointing at me then Keid. "Are you two… roleplaying?"

"Mm?" I said through my gulping and swallowing of my Cola.

"You were talking about business and building… factories on Tarsonis or something. I just thought it was odd." She said. "Are you rehearsing a play or film role or something?"

"It's real." Keid stated easily. I frowned at his divulgence. He indicated me with a hand. "You're looking at the one and only Syrenne Haelstrom, founder and CEO of Little Bug Princess Heavy Industries. The woman next to her is Lednir, her bodyguard."

"Little Bug Princess…" Her eyes lit up. "You're the people who made the Purpletooth."

I swallowed my most recent Cola gulp. "You're familiar with our products, then?"

She took out a small plastic earpiece, it was purple, with a different shell than the Blacktooth and a directional pad rather than a dial. "This thing was a lifesaver. Crazy cheap and the police can't confiscate it."

"What do you use it for?" I asked.

She smiled politely. "I'm an online merchant in my second job. Some buyers and sellers are… secretive, to say the least. They'll only contact me on 'secured' channels, and having this makes me available at any time. I lost my old Blacktooth to the ban a while ago."

"You see that Keid? Lednir?" I looked at them. "We're doing good in the world."

"Anyway," She extended a hand to me, I took it and we shook. "I wish you the best of luck in your new business... Syrenne, was it? Have a good day." She turned and continued along the isleway.

"…We need to develop an app." I said aloud now. "Keid, what kind of programming clout do our R&D staff have?"

"The best programmer we have is rather subpar. It hasn't been a priority in our hiring."

"Find someone good." I gestured toward him still looking off. "We need an application for workstations and mobile devices. People need a way to track the Purpletooth if they lose it, and remotely delete their encryption codes if they have to."

"I know the best programmer on Korhal." His book was closed now, and his phone was out. "She works for GenTek, but shouldn't be hard to poach."

I clapped my hands together, grinning deviously. "Very nice…"

"Is there anything else you want to put a pin on?"

"As a matter of fact…" A serious matter had come to mind, and I sobered. "There is something, and it's pretty important."

"Sure, lay it on me." He was typing into his phone.

"And…" My finger was twisting around in my now hair-like nerve cords as I looked down shyly. "I want… to be certain you're listening."

Processing this and seeing the nuance, he had a gentle smile which blanked right after it came. He set down his phone. "Ready."

"I… before we left Korhal, I negotiated a deal with Adaptive Systems Interplanetary." The subject was heavy, and I wanted to let myself calm before continuing. I leaned forward, knitting my hands. "I appeared in front of their Board of Directors, and persuaded them to put an unprecedented amount of confidence in our relatively little-known company. If we screw up on our end, it'll cost them millions in delays and there won't be another contract from them ever again. That's not even mentioning the reparation lawsuit."

"Okay, understood." He said, equally engaged. "What's the job?"

"Construct a Nuclear Fusion reactor; a power plant for the colony on Sephulli within their specifications, and have it operational within one month."

"Well, that is a job…" He leaned back, looking off and exhaling. "How big?"

"It calls for a brand new design, and their usual manufacturer bungled it disastrously. I swooped in like a savior to pick up their timetable and—oh, Goddess, Keid I'm a moron." Wincing, I looked out my window, grabbing one side of my face with an open hand. "It'll have to be the biggest ever conceived to meet specifications. The colony there is expected to grow like an Ultralisk egg, and this reactor is projected to sate its power needs for the next decade."

"No doubt they gave you a concept schematic? I need to see it." He was stone serious, leaning forward with an open hand out.

Lednir handed me my tablet. I found the file with the schematic, opened it and then passed it to him. What followed was several long, painful minutes of silence as he scanned each page, sweeping to the next, analyzing that, and then on to the next. I spoke up as he did this. "We only have one major facility right now." I said. "I… skimmed what you're looking at and just estimated it barebones in my head, assuming that we could… throw something together and meet the deadline with what we had. It was an hour after signing the contract that I came to my senses."

"I've got to say this to you, Syrenne…" He had a grim frown, still looking at my tablet.

"Go ahead and say it." My mood was dour. "I was stoking my ego, and now I'm gonna pay for it. I should have been focusing on stability and risk management rather than trying to make it big. I'm a spoiled little princess who thinks everything goes her way no matter what." I was wincing, sinking down lower in my posture. "Say it to me. It'll be healthy to hear."

"I was going to say that you're… starting to become almost as cool a boss as Kuraski."

The vaguely positive connotation of that statement caught me off guard. I looked at him, rising a little. "Why are you comparing me to Kuraski?"

"Because of the Chronos: He approved the development of a synthetic brain which we placed in a giant mechanized body, it worked." He was beaming excitedly. "Because of Niadra: Kuraski commissioned a container which could imprison a fully-awakened Hybrid, it did. Now you're my employer, and you're asking your staff to build an insanely ambitious work of pipe dream power plant fantasy with a scale that makes reactors before it look like kids' toys." His beaming had grown into an almost mad grin. "Approving crazy undertakings like this… It's a beautiful thing."

"Keid you're… delusional. You're in denial." I was shaking my head. "The previous manufacturer built it in five pieces at the same time at five different major facilities, that took them the month and it still turned into a hydrogen bomb when they tried to start it. We have one adequate building and a fraction of the manpower they did. I didn't have my head on right when I signed. We're not ready to handle a contract like this."

"There are ways around that. Ways around everything." He handed me back my tablet. "For one we can build it outdoors on Sephulli; rent a space from Adaptive Systems Interplanetary and only need to move the pieces a short distance to the assembly site. That should shave some days off the timetable."

This was a good idea; it also meant we wouldn't need to shut down anything in my Tarsonis facility. I leaned back, propping a fist on my cheek. "Sephulli… still has a great number of untamed, unclaimed areas… with surface minerals. We can clear a trail and allocate a couple of our SCVs for gathering raw materials."

His hands clapped together. "We savaged an old Mineral Processing Suite on Tarsonis; it's on pallets behind the building. We also have a Brood War era Dropship that can move it. All it needs is its own micro warp drive to get to Sephulli."

This line of thinking was making me hopeful. "Tarsonis has mining operations on it, targeted at precious metals. I can negotiate a bargain for them at the source while I'm there." The reactor would use quite a few rare metals.

"And for the Zeta Compound you'll just have to get on the horn with good old Broodmother Kilysa, make a deal and she'll drop a pod full of ore right where we need it."

I had an excited smile. "How simple would it be to adapt the old Mineral Suite to purify this Zeta ore?"

"Are you kidding?" He waved this off. "We've got a gal who can upgrade that thing in her sleep."

"Keid we're…" I was tapping my fingers together, daring to hope. "We're gonna do this."

He nodded. "Pushing the envelope, and it'll be completed on time, at a third of the projected cost. That there's a promise."

The giant woman was listening in, and she spoke up. "Why is building this reactor such an ordeal? I've seen Terran SCVs assemble things rapidly, and with ease."

"And they definitely don't do it with magic." Keid said. "The construction steps for those buildings had to be developed on the software level, and then tested and improved until they were reliable. Only widely used structures have such procedures."

"The reactor we're building is new." I added. "Programming a reliable automated procedure for it would be a huge investment requiring tons of live testing, and with no guarantee of success."

"Only worth it if we were building a hundred of them."

"But my gal has a point." I said, turning to Keid. "If my R&D Department has the time they should record the construction and plan for automated assembly in the future; this is going to be a next-generation Fusion reactor, and if we pull this job off ASI might order more down the road."

"A note shall be made of this…" he was typing rapidly on his phone. "Alongside the Purpletooth App, the off-brand Cola development… Oh, and also the prototype mining rig which…" He saw me looking at him with a bored look, "While your least favorite, Syrenne, I believe shows the most promise, our current pressing job aside."

"Yeah, my least fav 'cuz… it's boring." I was tapping my foot, looking off. "A mining rig. It's not Cola, it's not Fusion, and it's not a Purpletooth. Where's the appeal?"

"Of course," he said. "If you're a miner, on Tarsonis, and some workshop down the road is making a layman-friendly particle disassembler that can cut through earth and metals at thirty centimeters a second, while creating no heat, no explosion hazard, and half the energy consumption of a laser drill… where's the appeal in that?"

I took a heavy, releasing sigh. "Fine. If it brings in the cheddar then I like it, okay? Even if it is your pet project." The motivation behind the off-brand Cola research would remain unaddressed.

"It's Stetmann's project, actually. He went on about his old experiences with a Khaydarin Crystal, and the ideas he gleaned from it."

"We still have Stetmann?" I'd never bothered to go through the names of my Applied Science personnel. "He didn't leave after doing… the request?" I wasn't worried he'd go blapping about who I was; My tracks were covered and nobody would believe him.

"He couldn't sign up fast enough. I've allotted his project a generous budget which you approved, probably without reading it closely." He was still typing on his phone, his face indifferent. "He'll certainly enjoy your visit. I think he's smitten with you."

"That's nice." I was indifferent as well. My tablet was in front of me. It was feeding me information and updates in real-time. A chatroom was open which was exclusive to me and my allies. Tosh had just posted a new message about three GenTek 'jokers' having 'Wandered into the park.' I wasn't sure what it meant, but he followed it with a happy emoji.

Out my window I could see Tarsonis. Our ferry was entering orbit. Pretty soon we'd be landing in Megiddo, one of Tarsonis' handful of major settlements. My company's branch there was a repurposed building just outside its city limits. I had yet to see the town for myself; it was likely very different from Korhal.

* * *

"I don't understand what you mean, Mister Kuraski. You didn't get the contract?"

David Kuraski was standing next to his seat. It was a meeting with his Board of Directors. He was composed as ever, in control of the tone even as he was being confronted. "Adaptive Systems' Chairman gave his apologies, but they'd already found a replacement for the Harvey Group."

"This was a golden opportunity, Kuraski." Another Board member was stood up, propping his arms on the table. "When the Harvey Group botched the Sephulli Reactor Job, that was our chance to pick up the contract and replace them as Adaptive Systems' primary manufacturer." The Board member was old, and his bald head shook incredulously. "But somebody beat you to it? Is that your explanation?"

"Partially," Kuraski said, nodding. "The rest has to do with our contract thief-"

"Whom outmaneuvered you!" Another Board member said. "One of the great business negotiators of the Dominion, outplayed by an unknown, a…" His hand circled in the air, searching for a word. "Upstart punk."

"Gentlemen… gentlemen." Kuraski patted them down with a subtle gesture. "Take my word for it that the cards weren't in my favor at the time, so I backed off. But we'll get the contract, it will simply take longer."

"You're assuming the contract thief will botch it? Just like the Harvey Group?"

"They're miniscule compared to the Harvey Group." Kuraski said. "I've seen the concept drafts of this reactor, and there's no way they can meet the deadline, this…" Kuraski shook his head. "Little Bug Princess Heavy Industries."

"Little… Bug Princess..?" The older Board member was wincing, as though he couldn't believe what he just heard. "What the hell kind of company name is that?"

"It's led by a child." Kuraski spread his hands slightly, a mocking inflection in his tone. "She's sixteen, seventeen at most. Her public record states she's an immigrant from the Umojan Protectorate, whose parents left her a lot of money. A minor…" He dismissed it with a hand wave "Blip in the environment. They'll be gone by the end of this quarter."

* * *

"I like this town!" My declaration was loud and shameless as me, my bodyguard and my main R&D guy exited down the rusty steel ramp of the town's Starport along with a crowd of other passengers. The road and ground were steel; rusted and glimmering at the same time with single and two story buildings at the flanks, comprised of the same rusty, plated steel architecture and occasionally a shanty comprised of welded and riveted scrap.

My party of three walked along the street coming out of the Starport. It was by far the broadest street in town and the most crowded. Straight ahead led to the town gates, left open to allow traffic through. Megiddo was constructed atop the outer edge of a titanic steel plateau. It was in the outskirts of what had once been a great urban center.

I caught my gal glaring in the direction of a diverting street. As we walked I looked that way as well and caught it: Grouped in the smaller street were a number of thuggish-looking people who seemed to have nothing to do. One of them had pointed toward us, prompting the rest to stare.

"Relax, Lednir." I said to her. "You've a good eye, but they're not going to do anything in broad daylight."

"Their body language denotes challenge." Lednir said, looking ahead now as we moved on. "They would harm you if it were possible."

"Those people are members of the Flame Chains." Keid said from my other side. "They're gangsters and yes, your bodyguard's right, Syrenne. A cute, affluent girl wanders through town at night, and she'll get murdered or kidnapped by them."

Lednir looked past me at him. "Once Miss Haelstrom is safely within her fortified building on this planet, I will return to this town after nightfall, and deal with them."

"Sounds like a plan." He nodded. "I'll torch the evidence and fly the getaway ship."

"Whoa, hold on people." I had a hand raised. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but they haven't really done anything to me. No killing them."

"Oh, very well."

"Whatever you say Syrenne."

"So, where are we going?" I said, changing the subject. I'd organized all the logistics of moving things between the Plant and the Starport, and also between the Starport and other worlds without ever learning where the Plant was. This was my first time coming here in person.

"As you're aware we fly things and people between Town and the Plant." Keid answered. "There are several collapsed buildings blocking the road. A Dropship should be waiting for us just outside the gate, assuming they found a clear enough spot to land."

* * *

 **7 Days earlier**

I'd found the manager of my Hotel, a middle-aged woman who was standing next to the reception desk. After I introduced myself, she'd examined me head to foot. I thought I looked nice as a human.

But then she raised a gripe. "I don't understand… why are you barefoot?"

"Excuse me?" I countered incredulously. "Why are my feet so important?"

"It's… I don't know." She shook her head. "You don't look old enough to be the owner. You're… what, sixteen, at most?"

She found it hard to believe I was who I said I was, which… when I thought about it, was easy to believe. I'd turned 5 years old several months after the Sephulli mission. I remember the day clearly because mom was acting all weird in the days leading up to it and wanted to do something festive. I had to insist really hard to keep it down to something modest. I couldn't very well give my real age; full Terrans matured even more slowly than I did. "I'm… seventeen."

The manager was slightly amused by this. She seemed to think I was cute; which was true, of course, but it didn't help me in the cause of being taken seriously. "Okay…" She said. "Do you need help finding your parents? I'm waiting for someone here, but I can have someone help you."

My foot stomped in petty frustration. "Why are you being so difficult?" A pout had made its way to my face. "I'm the owner, I'm your boss. And we have to talk about licenses, title forms, and the contractors I'm bringing in and how to accommodate them."

"Yes, I do want to talk about that with the new owner, once she shows up here." The Manager was still relaxed, treating me with friendly amusement. "I'm surprised you knew about the contractors. Are you the owner's daughter? Her… little sister, perhaps?"

"I'm Syrenne Haelstrom!" My outburst produced a mild scene. Several people looked my way, but then went about their business.

"Is there a problem here?" A new, male voice approached us.

"Mister Marchen." The Manager said. "I got your message. Is the owner coming?"

I turned to look at him, calming down as he stopped near us. "Tell this lady who I am, Keid."

"This is Syrenne Haelstrom." He said to the manager. "I know she looks young, but it's true. She's an immigrant from Umoja, and comes from a very wealthy family."

I was silent as I absorbed this perfect backstory, my frown dissipating. "That's true." I said to the Manager. "I probably should have explained that."

"It doesn't explain your lack of shoes."

"I'm… staying here." My perky smile accompanied this explanation. "This is my home away from home." I shrugged. "I didn't plan on leaving the building, so I couldn't be arsed with shoes."

"Believe me." Keid said to the Manager. "This girl is… very strong-willed. It's best to just go along and not make a fuss. Save yourself a giant headache."

He was absolutely correct in what he just said about me. Disagreeable people would feel my wrath in the form of the biggest headaches.

"Alright." The Manager caved. "I believe you. You're the owner, and I won't make a fuss about your bare feet."

"Perfect!" I said. "Let's head to your office."

* * *

 **The Present**

"Syrenne Haelstrom is Princess Saraslha. They're the same person." David Kuraski said.

"Are you going to say this surprised you?" Karla Simmons was present, having made a full recovery from her bullet wound.

"What surprises me…" He trailed. "Is her sudden change in tactics."

"There haven't been any attacks on GenTek assets in the past week. The Heavies are deployed and we're ready for them, though."

They were on a catwalk overhead a broad span of open concrete floor. Below them was the hulking metal oval referred to as the Chronos. And, further along the floor past cables, workstations, worktables and busy staff members, were the preserved remains of Niadra, the decapitated Hybrid, which had been recovered from the Grey Mesa. "Lack of attacks aside, the Princess has made a move on me." Kuraski peered down at the Hybrid remains intently. "The reactor contract from Adaptive Systems… She's putting her disguise to good use."

"The middle management was talking about that deal slipping through your fingers." She had her heavy pistol out with no hostile intent, and was looking absently down at it, leaning back on the railing next to him. "Want me to arrange a sabotage? Get them to miss the deadline?"

"If it comes to that, yes." He nodded lightly. "But it can't be in a way they expect."

"Never is."

"Did you learn anything from your captive?"

"The Spectre? No." She expertly flicked her pistol to an offering grip, and then back to a ready to fire grip. "He's part of a very professional outfit. I doubt he even has anything to tell us we don't already know."

He tsked at this. "They should be considered a threat, then."

"I lost three more operatives to them earlier today. So… yes, presumed extremely dangerous."

"What is our dear Princess paying them? Perhaps they could be bought off."

"I'll make their leader an offer, should I ever get in contact with him."

"This isn't a high-stakes game for Saraslha, barring a… difficult, direct kill." Kuraski said, a hand gripping the handrail. "When I bankrupt her, and leave her in penniless disgrace, she can simply go back to being a princess. Power as the next overqueen, a virtually unlimited lifespan…" His teeth clenched. "She's the most privileged creature in existence, and yet she has the nerve to imitate us, to imitate Humanity, and play me at my game."

"You'll win, though. You always win, and this is no different."

He said nothing, only peering down at the ground floor, which was active and working oblivious to his observation.

"Did… the Board give you crap about losing the ASI deal?"

"Their intentions are… productive, but they lack vision." His head visibly shook. "They've never seen me fail to close a deal, and no doubt found it… bewildering."

"Not bewildering to you, though?" She peered sideways at him. "The 'most privileged creature in existence' out-negotiated you. It was only one instance, but still…"

"And I outdid her militarily at Olympus, in spite of all accounts testifying that she's a great tactician. Nothing in this world is a guarantee."

"If I didn't hear your previous statement, I'd almost think you respected her."

"As an opponent, perhaps. To defeat and break."

"There's no political agenda being a part of it? Normally I figure your reasons out on my own, but this time…"

He looked her in the eye for a brief second, and then ahead again. "The Zerg are irreconcilable. Peace would eventually lead to trust, and then their entire Swarm goes to war on the order of one individual, and Humanity is caught unprepared. If Zagara would declare war over one death, however tragic it might be to her personally, then I was right to start it with her sooner rather than later."

"I knew it." A hint of satisfaction shown on Karla's face. "You do have political leanings."

"I may as well wear them on my sleeve."

"It sounds more like a rationale; you're saying it to make yourself feel better."

"Maybe." He just shrugged. "Maybe not." He indicated the Chronos, down below. "Humans are capable of remarkable things. I could never have built that myself, or…" he looked toward Karla again. "Research and Development has completed the first prototype of the Star Cross Engine, based on data observed from the Hybrid Specimen. Once it's installed within the Chronos, all of its power plant issues will be solved."

"I've seen the field tests. That thing terrifies me, even if it is on our side."

"Humanity is destined for greatness." He was close to beaming with joy as he watched over the giant, dormant machine. "How many marvels lay latent in Humanity, for lack of more men like me who enable it? Our species could have everything if they would just…" he closed his outstretched fingers with a spastic anxiety. "Reach for it. But it's always so sluggish. That day, when it finally comes to pass…" He lost a bit of energy, bending over ever so slightly. "I won't live long enough to see it."

Karla Simmons caught onto his exact mindset. "But the Princess… she will live long enough to see it."

"Any worthwhile thing she accomplishes is borrowed from her Human half. She's a Human-Zerg Hybrid; every bit as dangerous as the Protoss-Zerg Hybrid, but with a different combination of species and operating in a far more subtle, but just as dangerous way. She has unlimited time to take over our economy, our politics, and our marketplace of ideas, piece by little, peaceful piece as she becomes more adept with each passing decade. There are many ways in which the Zerg pose an existential threat to Humanity, and… Saraslha, is just the latest iteration."

* * *

 **7 Days Earlier**

I'd just come out of the manager's office in the Hotel Marianne when Egon Stetmann approached me in the hallway. "Syrenne! You've got to come down to the basement. Rindell, she's… it's hard to explain."

With this, I turned back to the Manager. "I'm glad we could sort through all the clutter, Helen." I offered a hand.

"Of course Miss Haelstrom." She took it readily and we shook. "There shouldn't be any trouble accommodating your renovators now, and I'll get the licenses processed. Don't let me keep you."

"Wonderful." I nodded, let go and walked away to Stetmann in the corridor. When I passed him he walked alongside me. "What's the deal with Rindell? Did you find a way to disguise her?"

"Not… not yet." He said. "I drafted a handful of procedures to cut her up and arrange her around—none of them were viable. She got impatient, and laid a weird egg that wasn't near to hatching when I left. It was out of my depth, and I thought you'd know what it was." We came to an elevator door which would lead to the restricted section of the basement in which my disguise was applied.

The door opened immediately when he pressed the call button and we entered. "I've no idea why she'd lay an egg." I said. "It could be a pair of Zerglings, a Roach, a Hydralisk… Hell, if she found enough food and some Vespene Gas she could probably pump out one that inflates to an Ultralisk cocoon; I've seen her do it."

"That… would be bad." Stetmann had pressed the button labeled 'B1' and the doors closed. "We don't want an Ultralisk in the basement, it'd be… pretty hard to hide, and could cause some serious damage."

"Well…" I waved it off as the elevator car went down. "She'd have control over it."

He let this be the last word as the elevator cab reached the basement level, and its doors opened. We came out, and Rindell was limp in place, sat on her legs and underbelly with her eyes shut. The egg was in front of her, and it had become very big, of greater volume than either me or Stetmann.

Without hesitation I walked up to this egg and placed a hand on it. _"Rindell..? What'cha doing?"_

" _Be patient, my Princess. The issue of my disguise will be resolved shortly. Do step away from the egg, I do not wish to dirty you."_

I complied, taking a generous number of steps away from the large egg.

It split open, its shell falling in sections onto the concrete floor around it as the content inside emerged from a knelt position, out of a mess of goo and semi-solid fibers.

It was an adult woman. She was crazy tall, with an almost ankle-length mane of blonde hair. With fully conscious eyes, she looked down at me, stepping off the remains of the egg onto the floor.

"…Rindell? Is that you?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stetmann averting his gaze politely.

"It is, my Princess." The woman replied. "This is my avatar body, and with it I can accompany you wherever you go."

"Where… how…?" I'd never heard of anybody doing this.

"I used to serve the senior Broodmother of another world. As my mentor, she taught me a Psionic technique in which I could extend my full mind into an expendable secondary body. It comes easier for some than for others."

A nearby section of the sizable basement floor was the laundromat. Stetmann had gone over there, and come back with a stack of large towels and a bedsheet. Looking away, he handed them one by one to Rindell who took them and wiped herself off. When done, he handed her the bedsheet which she cloaked around herself.

My hand was over my mouth. "What about…" I leaned over, looking at the Broodmother, still slack and unmoving.

"I can return to my original body any time I choose." She said, coming closer. Suddenly the Broodmother body got up on its own and began walking, its eyes still dark and blank. "It will be stored someplace secure."

"Well…" I decided to roll with this pleasant surprise. "We need a name for your avatar."

She nodded at this. "It shall be Lednir."

"Your real name backwards…?"

"I will have difficulty remembering otherwise."

"Okay then." I shrugged. "Remember that my name is Syrenne Haelstrom, okay?"

"Of course my Princess, you are Miss Haelstrom."

I pointed over to the elevator. "You are going straight to my penthouse to get a shower and clothes. Stetmann?"

"Y-yes? It… looks like she sorted it out on her own."

"Indeed she did." I watched as she went into the elevator wearing nothing but a bedsheet and pressed a button. Her original body waited outside for its turn. The elevator was reserved for people I'd cleared, and it would not stop and open before reaching the penthouse floor. "D'you mind helping me clean the mess? There can't be any evidence once the staff is let back in here."

"Eh…" He shrugged. "Sure." He walked off again. "I'll get some garbage bags, you'll fill a mop bucket, we'll put solids in the incinerator and juices down the drain."

Never having cleaned anything before in my life, I was glad to get directions as I went to a custodian's closet.

* * *

 **As ever, dear reader, thanks for reading! Any comments, suggestions or criticism is more than welcome. Have a wonderful day.**


	14. Chronos

So many things happened after my arrival on Tarsonis. Where to start? Oh yes, some sucky jerk tried to kill me just outside the gates of Megiddo. Rindell took the bullet in her human puppet body, and then another bullet, and then she whipped an acid spine out of her forearm which buried itself into the shooter's head. The shooter was 40 meters away on a rooftop, using a sniper rifle. He was a private hitman. Myself and associates are assuming he worked for GenTek.

My Tarsonis trek went swimmingly otherwise. The perimeter of my workshop had a generous minefield, with plenty of bunkers and a few Siege Tanks. The building itself was a connected blend of an industrial scale Factory and Science Facility. Stetmann wanted to show me his boring mining rig project and I humored him. We have a lot of bright and hungry talent with experience in engineering and applied science, and we're cranking out the Purpletooth like popcorn with custom-built production lines. I'm confident that once production volume increases and we can expand distribution, its sales will spike on some world or another and that'll be its breakout.

I had to do this; I had to birth, and then build a brand; a name, in the same way I built my brood on Sephulli. That was the only way I could fight GenTek, an organization so very woven into the nation my mother doesn't want me to fight. I need to steal its market; its life force, by supplanting its role one bloc at a time. My new organization was having a similar start to GenTek's, and whether Kuraski knew it or not I read his unwritten rulebook; his history of successes, and have no compunctions about emulating it. Just as I would steal the essence of a powerful enemy who faced me in war.

An office had been prepared for me in the upper floors. The commander of Megiddo's militia came to meet with me. He was curious about my fortifications and what effect it'd have on the nearby town's defenses in the event of a raider or feral Zerg attack. We came to a cordial mutual defense agreement in which my mercs would help defend the town, or the Militia would reinforce my Workshop depending on which was the target.

Controlling the feral Zerg was not an option. Even if it didn't take immense time and effort to take command of just a handful of Zerg whose original controller was gone, it would be too conspicuous. Word of their organized patterns would get out, and then the Dominion would rightly deem it a priority one threat and send half the Core Fleet to burn every Hive Cluster not underground, refusing to leave until the controller was found and destroyed. An air battle against a fleet of those mammoth Gorgon Battlecruisers with accompanying squadrons of Minotaurs was the last thing I ever wanted to fight without a ton of preparation and a sizable force at my back.

My Reactor project would need a number of rare metals. The precious metal mines on Tarsonis were managed by the local government. This made buying from them a bit more complicated, but after a few phone calls I found the people who did the actual legwork of managing the mines and made a few deals under the table. I get my ore on the cheap-cheap by picking it up right outside the mines, and they save so much on shipping costs that their financial books actually look healthier. Happy end for everyone.

By far my most interesting guest came in the middle of the night. I was at my desk. The steel building and compound outside were illuminated with spotlights, lampposts, and the windows of the lit interior. A Dropship took off and landed in the inner courtyard numerous times as the nightshift was rotated in.

Nova had tracked me to Tarsonis, and infiltrated my building at nightfall. When she decloaked inside my office I immediately shot to my feet.

No words were spoken, I went around my desk, right up to her and gave her a big hug. "Ghost lady!" She didn't stop me. "I'm so happy to see you again."

"Wha-" she was taken aback, her arms nervously outspread as she kept balance with me bear hugging her. "You really are Saraslha."

I let go, looking up at her. "It's Syrenne while I look like this, okay?"

"I don't understand. What are you doing here? Why do you look human?"

I turned around, walking back to my desk. "Can I get you a cola? Some snack cakes perhaps? Please, make yourself comfortable."

Nova stepped forward, annoyed. "I want answer—"

Just then RIndell came out from the shadows behind Nova, placing a hand on her shoulder as she walked into her field of vision. Nova genuinely wasn't aware of her and was startled. "It is good to see you again, Ghost lady."

She calmed, looking up at Rindell's face. "Who are you?"

"I'm Rindell!" She said with a wooden grin which I'd seen her put a lot of practice into making. It was not a fake smile, but rather untrained. "I projected my mind into this body, in order to protect Saraslha."

"I seriously did not detect you as I came in." Nova brushed the hand off her shoulder.

"If you had been somebody who meant harm to her, I would have ended your existence." Her genuine smile persisted.

Nova went back to facing me, stepping toward my desk. "Look, Saraslha, we're getting sidetracked—"

"It's Syrenne," I shyly corrected. "Nova, please, alias. You were trained in espionage for heaven's sake."

"I don't know what's going on!" She burst out, placing a hand on my desk as she looked me in the eye. "I sensed you here and thought you were a prisoner."

"What? No." I was shaking my head. "But it's safe to guess that Valerian asked you to find me."

"Yes." She stood straight, calming as her brow relaxed and the mood of the room let itself calm. "You're coming with me, Saraslha. I'm taking you back to Korhal."

I sighed, knowing this part to be inevitable. If she hadn't found me, then it would have been Dehaka. It was only a matter of time. I frowned, wincing down at my desk as I stood behind it.

"I saw somebody try to kill you outside town, earlier." Nova gestured outside through the window as she spoke. "You have no right to put yourself in danger like this."

"Yes, I understand that. It's just—"

"Just nothing." She said forcefully, dismissing what I said with a hand wave. "What do you think happens if you die on the Dominion's watch, Saraslha? Take a guess. Take a good goddamned guess."

Now in a suddenly accosted mindset, I processed this. "Mother… would be..." It was the happiest moment in my life, when Mom came out about how much she cared about me.

"Zagara would blame us, Humanity, for your loss. And then our relations are back to square one, if not outright war. It's not just your own life you're putting at risk."

She was bringing out all the doubts I had about what I was doing. "It's my nature, Nova." My voice was quiet and strained. I'd sat in my chair, my hands knit as I stared into them. "I've been challenged, aggressed, I'm at war. If I run away, he wins. Do you understand?" I looked up at her eyes now. "He'll have all the time in the world to plan his next attempt on my life, or to start a war some other way. If I run, I don't grow, I don't learn, and the problem persists.

"What are you talking about?" Nova's voice was quiet as well, she shook her head. "Of course you'll grow."

"How is that?"

"Coming back with me is the most grown up decision you could possibly make right now, Saraslha. You don't have to solve the issue with Kuraski on your own." She looked off. "I… know, that it isn't fair. You should be able to visit our nation without fear of some moron trying to kill you. That's our failing, not yours. All of that said…" She seemed to have difficulty finding the words. Speaking on an emotional level was not one of her skills. "Right now, you're Broodmother Rindell—in her situation, standing in the news room. The Garrison has their guns on you, and you can either fight or surrender." She was looking me in the eyes now. "She acted against her nature, when she surrendered. Was that the wrong decision?"

As I processed this, I let out the groaniest of groans as I forcefully slouched back in my chair.

"The Ghost Lady… makes a persuasive argument, my Princess." Rindell said. "We should trust the humans to take care of their own bad apples."

"I know…" My words came out in a tone of disgruntled concession. And then, once my venting took its course, I snapped forward to lean over my desk again. "You win, Nova." But then I suddenly had a finger raised at her. "LBP is here to stay though."

Nova frowned. "The hell is LBP?"

"Not important, pay it no mind." I dismissed it with a hand wave. "You win, Nova. I'll go with you. Just… give me some time, an hour or so, to put affairs in order."

"You've made the right decision, Saraslha." Nova indicated the window past my desk. "I'll call for pickup in your courtyard. My dropship is the safest means of getting you to my ship in orbit."

I nodded. "understood."

* * *

Valerian was at his usual spot in the conference room. For the first time in awhile he felt relief and release from a stress long built up. He was slouched back in his chair, humming not unpleasantly.

"You… wanted to see me, sir?" Matt Horner's voice could be heard as he approached.

"We've got her, Matt." Valerian's voice carried an extremely rare tone of casual friendliness. "The Princess, she's on her way back to the Palace."

"Wow that's… a huge load off." Horner's relief was apparent, Valerian knew exactly how he felt. "Who found her?"

A small, crooked smile appeared on Valerian's mouth with his eyes shut looking upward, still leaned back. "It was Nova Terra. Your man Dehaka… just wasn't fast enough."

Horner tsked. "I suppose I owe you a drink."

"That you do."

"I'll have a lot of questions for Saraslha, once she's back at the Palace. What was she thinking? An attempt on her life was made, and she avoided our protection?"

"If she were my daughter I'd put her over my knee and give her a good spanking." Valerian's levity persisted. "The Overqueen needs to have a stern talk with her… Speaking of which." He hovered a hand over a keypad built into his spot of the table, a few button presses activated the projector, and dialed the Zerg embassy.

Izsha's projection appeared. The semi-humanoid Zerg had her eyes shut, and a metallic psi insulator was worn around her head. This was the only way she could have any privacy on Korhal, being a telepath with no inhibition procedures done on her. She noticed the projector, and her eyes opened as she removed the device easily using the thick talons on the ends of her appendages. _"What is it you require, Emperor Valerian?"_ The norm of her voice tone was almost perfect consistency, however this moment it carried a hint of drowsiness.

"Ambassador, you can inform the Overqueen that her daughter has been found, and she'll be available to speak on our end within the hour."

" _Understood."_ She said normally, with no hint or suggestion that she was annoyed at being woken. _"She will be very pleased with this news."_ The projection vanished.

Valerian expected her to call back soon. The Zerg were oblivious where communication protocols; such as saying they would call back, were concerned, so he always waited near his end to be certain, and instructed any staff who communicated with them to do the same.

"What do you think the Princess will have to say about Kuraski?" Matt Horner said. "Do you think she'll demand we prosecute him?"

"I'd be surprised if she didn't. And it could lead to a diplomatic quagmire if we don't." He was sober now, pulling a glove tighter on his hand absentmindedly. "The Dominion is a sovereign nation. No foreign element can be allowed to police our populace, no matter whom the aggrieved party is or how reasonable their grievance. It's our place to carry out judgement, not theirs."

Horner shook his head. "Though it feels all kinds of strange to say this, the Zerg would be right to demand it of us."

The stress came in; the Emperor's inability to provide that to them without proper evidence and due process. "I'll… talk to her, the Princess." Valerian said. "Talk to her socially, not officially. She's… an adolescent, but our meeting a week ago has made me dare to hope that she's reasonable."

* * *

David Kuraski had a video call running in his office. The person on the screen was a woman in mercenary attire with short purple hair and a cybernetic eye. He was pacing as he spoke to her. "And so I can assume you're satisfied with my bid, Mira Han?"

Mira Han was the leader of Mira's Marauders, a mercenary army. She had a solid poker face, and spoke with a heavy accent. "I would prefer to know the specifics of the job before my price is finalized, David."

"Destroy the LBP facility on Tarsonis and Kill Syrenne Haelstrom." He slowed his pacing a bit. "Tarsonis is a strategically insignificant world, and the presence of law is lax. It's the perfect theatre of operation for a group like yours."

"And what… size, would you prefer my attack be?" She feigned a bit of mild curiosity. "I can offer a range of packages to suit your needs, from light raids to the full-scale assault."

Kuraski didn't even bother to hide his amused look. Mira was using a negotiating tactic typical of mercenaries. She wanted to use incremental charges as a sideways angle to boost her price. "I expect you to do what I ask. Destroy the building, kill Haelstrom. If you want tactical advice as to the strength of the force you'll need to deploy, then…" He shrugged indifferently, not looking at her. "I'd have to charge you for it."

"Now just hold on a moment," she said this quickly as her finger was raised. "That isn't how this—"

"Syrenne survives, and GenTek receives full reimbursement." Kuraski cut her off. "That should certainly help to inform your deployment decisions." He was relaxed as he continued pacing.

"Your squealing is quite a bit louder than you have a right to be making, David." Her expression became one of subtle threat. "Perhaps I'll come for you, the next time you pay a visit to the fringe worlds."

"It's a date." He dismissed the threat relaxedly. "But this is supposed to be a business conversation, mind."

Mira's eye became a narrow slit. "I am a married woman, you snake."

"I'll put this concisely:" He said, continuing to pace. "I have four other mercenary leaders on my private contact list. The moment you turn down my offer I'm going to hang up, forget this talk and immediately call one of them to start this whole thing over. Then that lucky person will get this rather lucrative assignment. All of that said, this prediction is moot because I know you aren't going to refuse."

"I've heard enough of this—"

"Peacetime… really is bad for business, isn't it, Mira?" He stopped pacing for a moment, giving her a look of believable pity. "How bad have your cutbacks been? Be honest, now."

Mira Han's brow sank, and it quickly transformed into a glare. "I… hate you, David. I hate you with every fiber of my being."

"Very good then." His tone was cordial, with a hint of liveliness. "I'm glad you've accepted." He cut the transmission before she could rebut. Then with a small remote in his hand, he dialed somebody else. The person answered and appeared on the screen immediately. "Karla, has the Chronos been docked to your ship?"

Karla Simmons was seated on the bridge of a capital ship, with Korhal visible in the background through its window-like viewing ports. "Our custom docking booms were a success. The Chronos is securely fastened to our underbelly, and the Glass Raven's warp radius will encompass it fully."

He nodded. "Arrangements have been made. A sizable mercenary fleet will soon arrive over Tarsonis."

"You actually got a group to gun for the Princess?"

David Kuraski had a private, satisfied look. "Saraslha doesn't realize how much her fake identity will work against her. Most mercenary leaders would be smart enough not to invoke the Swarm's wrath; I couldn't persuade any of them to gun for her, no matter how good the offer. But some teenager from Umoja with delusions of grandeur…"

"I'm aboard the Glass Raven and her condition is green. Should I back them up?"

"Go to Tarsonis, but keep your distance and observe. Make certain they do their job."

"And the Chronos..?"

"Deploy it at your discretion. The most recent test data looks promising, and I feel it's ready."

"Understood, sir." With this, she ended the transmission.

* * *

 **Saraslha**

"Crap…" I was hitting my own forehead with an open palm, still sitting at my desk. It had been about ten minutes since Nova showed up and went to wait for me in the courtyard. "Crap, crap, crap. Tosh…" He was on the other end of a live FTL transmission on my tablet. "Is this intel reliable? I mean… are you really sure?"

"I wouldn't be buggin' you otherwise. A sizable fleet has just sortied from Mira Han's Headquarters. Their destination be the Tarsonis system for sure."

Mira's Marauders. I knew about the organization, and had considered hiring them myself back when my plan was simply to gun for Kuraski. They hadn't exactly been at 100% strength since the End War, but still they vastly outgunned what forces I had.

"We must get you out of here." Rindell was looking at me intently. "If we leave with Nova now, there might be a chance of evading them. They cannot attack you in Korhal's system; the Dominion Armada's presence is too strong there."

"I'd be leaving my people at their mercy; at GenTek's mercy, assuming Mira doesn't just kill them outright." I shook my head. "No, The Swarm doesn't flee."

"It is you they're after." She counter-argued. "If you are gone, they will not bother with your holdings."

"You don't know that for sure, Rindell."

Tosh interjected on the still live connection. "Whatever you choose, I advise doing it fast."

I shut my eyes. _"Nova, we're gonna have company."_

" _I just got it from my crew."_ She replied from elsewhere in the building. _"There's no time window; we can't lift off and make it to my ship in time."_

" _But your dropship is almost here, right?"_

" _Yes, and it's staying in atmosphere until the mercenary fleet comes and goes."_

" _Is your ship in danger?"_ Nova's larger ship was in orbit of the planet

" _No. My crew will know to keep their distance, where the mercs won't detect them."_

I nodded at this. _"Alright… I'm taking stock of our assets. Can I assume you're on my side in this?"_

A pause. _"…I suppose so."_

" _You'll take orders?"_

" _Just like Sephulli."_ Her telepathic voice had a rising tone of eagerness. _"You have a plan, I assume?"_

" _Forming one."_ I turned and picked up the phone, picking a contact from its list. As I waited for the other end to pick up, I turned to Tosh on my tablet. "Gabriel, how soon can you tap into Dominion Intelligence?"

"Had a man in there for awhile." He said. "What'd you need?"

"Feed them a false report -under the name of a senior agent- that the feral Zerg on Tarsonis have begun to exhibit intelligent patterns, and are rapidly building up their forces."

Tosh had a subtle, sadistic grin. "Understood." He disconnected.

The phone was answered. " _What do you need, Syrenne?"_ Spoke O'Malley, my head of security.

"O'Malley, I need you to activate Contingency Plan Oh-Nine-Two. Stick with our originally planned site. You have one hour."

" _Oh-Nine-Two is pricey, Ma'am. Especially at an hour's notice."_

"I can afford it." I said plainly. "It's important. I also need you to direct all my reserves here. Approach the planet from the night side, and then head to the compound in low atmosphere."

" _My subcommanders will handle that. Sit tight."_

"That's all. Over and out." I hung up, and then I slouched back in my chair, ventilating the stress. "Kuraski is a genius, Lednir. That or he's a fool who stumbled onto the perfect move." I shook my head. "I changed the rules to play him at his own game, and now he's changed them right back to play me at mine. War is my wheelhouse, and yet he wasn't afraid to hop aboard it."

"Do you consider him a worthy opponent?" Her head crooked a little.

"Of course." My eyes opened, beaming. "For all the headache and paranoia he's caused me, this is really rubbing me the right way."

"I am happy that you're happy, even with all of the headache and paranoia you're causing me."

Our eye contact lasted many long seconds, and the assurance it gave me was an isolated moment of peace. But then reality inevitably manifested itself again as thoughts rushed through my head like a torrent. "Rindell, can you revert to your real body on Korhal?"

"I can."

"I need you back in your real body within a few minutes. Once there you're to get in contact with Izsha." I was tapping my feet on the floor in a rapid pattern. "Izsha has a Khaydarin Crystal in her Embassy, which can boost the range of Psionic signals." I looked up at her face as I said this, raising my eyebrows.

"You desire the Overqueen's aid? I approve of this."

"Oh, no, no…" My head shook. There was no way I'd go crying to my mother. "You know how my pride works, Rindell. This is my fight." I looked upward, searching for the words, "Do you remember the location… That remote meeting place, where we met with Admiral Horner's fleet?"

* * *

 **Half a minute later.**

4 Terran Capital Ships came out of Warp Space near Tarsonis, quickly closing the distance to the planet at sub light speed. A veritable swarm of smaller craft accompanied the larger ships. They all bore the colors and regalia of Mira's Marauders.

" _This job is a manhunt, plain, and, simple."_ Mira's voice was broadcast to every vessel in the fleet. _"We find the little girl, we blow up little girl's facility, we kill little girl."_ Her tone was perfectly calm and natural. _"And then one of you brings me her remains -be they medium or well done. Aaand…"_ She was broadcasting, but went about it as though she was talking socially. " _Then we're set. That's all the client was keen on, I think."_

The Fusion-powered engines of the 4 Battlecruisers were in a state of elevated, non-frugal burn as the fleet entered high orbit over the planet. As this happened, another Battlecruiser came out of Warp near the planet a good distance from the mercenary fleet. It was an old Behemoth frame, but gleamed with modernized plating and weapon emplacements.

The crew on the bridge of Mira's flagship reacted automatically to this, with the intelligence officer reporting its presence and the man on the targeting console placing pre-coded algorithms on the newly arrived vessel which would allow every ship to fire on it in sync should the order to fire be given. The comms officer immediately began hailing the vessel. Once he got a link, he turned to Mira and nodded.

"Identify yourselves."Mira stated simply and informally. "If there's a reason for you to be here at the same time as little old us, then do share."

" _This is the Glass Raven, of GenTek Corporation."_ The voice of a young woman answered. _"We're here to observe your activities here. Do carry on with your work, gents."_

Mildly annoyed but wishing to maintain a sense of professionalism, Mira answered with an order to a different ship. "Instruct the Daffodil to align its orbit and pass over the Little Girl's base. Geosynchronous facing. I want a Yamato blast descending on that structure as soon as possible."

" _Understood, Boss."_ The captain of the Daffodil replied over comms. One of Mira's Battlecruisers deviated its course slightly as the fleet passed over the planet at high speed.

"Now then…" Mira continued, knowing the woman on GenTek's ship was still on the line. "What standard of proof shall we have for the target? A body, perhaps… or just the head?"

" _You needn't worry about that."_ She said plainly. _"The Glass Raven's sensory and detection modules are state of the art. If she dies, we'll know about it, and then your work here will be finished."_

"Splendid…" Mira liked hearing this. There wasn't any military resistance in orbit, and the militias of what few human settlements existed on the surface did not have any aerospace forces to speak of. She could bombard the surface with impunity until the target was dead and collect an easy paycheck. This would cause a panic and attract the Dominion Armada, but she'd be long gone by then.

The Marauders' fleet closed into a protective formation around the Daffodil as the massive ship pivoted to aim its main cannon downward at the planet. This change in facing did not effect its orbit.

"New contact." The report came from the intel officer on Mira's bridge. "Warp Space exit, human craft, mass reading identifies it as a capital tier ship. Their trajectory is Tarsonis orbit. Mira, it's the Killer Snake."

Another interruption… "Do we have a channel with them?"

"Searching… done." The comms officer said. "They're sending a video feed. D'you want it on the main screen?"

"Yes." The video feed showed the bridge of a different ship. It was very much a human vessel. But the person in the captain's space wasn't human at all. He was a tall, monstrous blue creature, and spoke in a gravel-like tone. _"State, Mirahan, your business here."_ He said.

"Dehaka!" She greeted him with a pleasant tone whose exaggeration gave away that it was feigned and she couldn't be arsed to put up a better act. "You look to be in good health. How have the Dragoons fared since you took the reigns?"

An inhaling growl. _"Searching, for, target. Take alive. Us, not, interfered with."_

"Oh… sorry, no…" She shook her head with an exaggerated somberness. "I've got a target as well, and if in my efforts to kill her, your target dies as well…" She shrugged, looking away. "What can be done about it? Things happen." She looked at him again, intent now. "You may search the planet as you please, as soon as I'm done here."

Dehaka shook his head violently. _"No! Marauder, worm. I, search. You, wait."_

Mira tsked at this, wagging a finger. "You are in no position to make that demand, my ugly blue friend. You're vastly outgunned; one capital ship against four, five if GenTek decides to get its hands dirty." Her look became one of smugness. "You just wait in the background like a good little boy. The grown-ups will be all finished soon."

His growl carried an unusual tone of deliberation. _"Have, asked… gotten answer. Only, ask, once."_ With this he closed the connection.

"Boss, the Killer Snake has increased its speed… exponentially. It'll be at our location in one minute."

"Dammit…" Dehaka's ship had one of the strongest sublight accelerations in Terran Space. It was an old ship, heavily modified and didn't carry the common hammerhead frame design. "Establish a predictive target lock. All ships and all batteries are to open fire on sight. Shoot to kill!" Even with a numerical advantage, a collision would be deadly to both vessels involved. Mira wasn't about to die or lose a capital ship because the blue Zerg had something to prove.

The Killer Snake came 'round the planet, entering the field of vision of Mira's fleet. The 4 Battlecruisers opened fire on the fast-approaching ship with their particle cannons. Swarms of tactical fighters sortied out from hangars and the fleet formation to make runs on it. Without slowing down or calming in its wild evasive maneuvers, the Killer Snake primed its Yamato Cannon.

"Energy spike on the Killer Snake." The intel officer reported quickly. "Boss, he's targeting us!"

"Do not take evasive maneuvers." Mira ordered, keeping calm. "Activate Defense Matrix."

The Yamato blast fired, and then the shot broke and dissipated around a semi-visible bubble shield that enveloped Mira's Flagship.

One of the Marauder Battlecruisers' particle blasts made a direct hit on the Killer Snake, causing an explosion from inside. More direct and grazing hits hammered and seared over its plating, and the ship began to eject debris in countless tiny pieces.

From Mira's physical point of view, she saw the Killer Snake's mass pass right in front of her flagship, cruising at high speed through the Marauders' formation as its Battlecruisers stopped firing for a moment, adjusting their targeting to fire at something moving away from them. Swarms of Tactical Fighters intercepted the Killer Snake and took shots, but they were unable to keep up with the bigger ship's speed and were left behind. Dehaka's ship left behind idle clouds of metallic debris as it passed by; more debris than any ship had a right to leave after taking a few hits.

And then, to Mira's horror, the purpose of the debris became apparent. Energy signatures erupted from hundreds of tiny floating pieces as it was revealed that there were missiles hidden within the junk. Each missile suddenly ignited its micro fusion thruster and sped immediately for a random target in the Marauders' fleet.

There was no defense; no time for reaction. Tactical Fighters were caught off-guard and destroyed. The hulls of the Battlecruisers were hammered and treated to the bulk of the missiles' ire. None of the Capital ships were critically damaged, but the live feed of their condition quickly yellowed as weapon emplacements were destroyed and their air pressure was compromised in various areas.

Mira's fist was tightened to a deathgrip as she made no secret of her open, rage-filled glare. "Dehaka…"

"Warp Space entry detected." The intel officer had kept his cool. She had not been paying attention to the long, efficient stream of damage reports he'd announced to the bridge. "The Killer Snake is retreating."

"That son of a bitch!" She yelled. "I'll rip his arm off and feed it to him!"

" _This is the Flutter."_ The transmission was from the captain of another Battlecruiser. _"My ship remains Warp and combat capable. Shall I give pursuit to the Killer Snake?"_

Mira had to keep it together. She took several patient breaths. "…No, stay focused on the task at hand. Do not break formation. All units are to maintain escort around the Daffodil."

"The boys are gonna want Dehaka's head on a spit now, Boss." One of the bridge staff remarked.

"I want it too, and we'll have it." Mira had a private, malicious expression. "But we're professionals, first and foremost. Work comes before pleasure."

" _This is the Daffodil. Alignment is within parameters. We'll be over the target in T-minus ten… nine…"_ The glow of concentrated thermal energy became prevalent as the downward-angled Capital Ship charged its main weapon.

* * *

 **Saraslha**

I watched through the window of my office as the night sky of Tarsonis was displaced in its calm darkness by an orange glow. An abundance of light was cast throughout the atmosphere by what was fired down from orbit, and this made the ruins of the deserted major city feel almost alive and populated. For a few brief seconds, the ruined Metropolis was lit. My hands were clasped behind my back as I observed this, calmly. The blast was very close to the ground now.

It struck and completely destroyed a deserted city block some distance away. The sound and vibration of it could be felt some number of seconds after the visual, and my building shook a bit from the kinetic shockwave the blast had sent through the air.

With this, I picked up a handheld radio and held the transmit button. "Our jamming tactic was a success. Good work, O'Malley." My facility had a jamming array which refracted any sensory data to place the building a long distance off from where it actually was.

" _It's just the start of the real fight. We'll be ready for a ground assault, ma'am."_

I nodded at this, and then switched channels. "Stetmann, are you and the civilian staff all in Megiddo?"

" _It's all evacuated, Syrenne. It's just you, Nova and your mercs still in that building now. The militia has been alerted, and will fight in the unlikely event the town is attacked."_

"Very good." I released the button, and then turned around. Rindell's puppet body was on the floor, limp and abandoned. She had her orders, and all I needed now was that she carry them out.

* * *

 **Korhal, Izsha**

" _Are you certain that is what Saraslha requests of me?"_ Izsha was alone in her embassy, having just received a psionic call from Broodmother Rindell, who had reappeared on Korhal after a week of her psionic presence mysteriously vanishing. _"The Emperor told me she was on her way back to Korhal."_

" _The situation has changed. Tarsonis is under attack by people looking to kill her."_

Izsha processed this, and came back with a calm answer. _"With my crystal I could contact Broodmother Zagara. That would be a far more logical solution. The Swarm's presence in that star system could be easily excused."_

" _I concur on a personal level, Izsha. But the Princess was explicitly against that plan. She wishes to rely as little on the Swarm as possible."_

" _Very well… it is not in my nature to be difficult. However I will inform Broodmother Zagara, and Emperor Valerian of everything I know. Saraslha does not lead the Swarm, and I am not beholden to her."_

" _Both she and I are grateful for your assistance, Izsha."_

Privately, with the shutters closed over the view of the cityscape presented by her favorite room in the building, Izsha adopted an expression of mild indignance as a tentacle shot out of a ventilation duct and placed a tiny Khaydarin Crystal on the table in front of her.

* * *

"What do you mean, 'she's still alive'?" Mira said aloud.

" _Exactly those words, Mira Han."_ Karla said over audio transmission. _"We're still reading her bio signature as alive and kicking."_

"Impossible," she swiped a hand through the air. "Your sensors must be finicky, or not all they're cracked up to be."

" _Here is a snapshot of the planet surface, not ten seconds old."_ A visual feed presented Mira with a 3-D render of the planet surface. _"Here is the target building,"_ A red cursor appeared there. _"And here is the area where your Yamato blast struck."_ A blue arrow. _"Something mucked with your targeting, Mira, or your scan of the surface."_

"Damn…" Now she was frowning with thought. Equipment that caused a misplacement in orbital targeting was not uncommon at all in her experience. Black markets all over sold things of that nature; she'd even used similar tricks herself in the past. "All right then." Her voice elevated to speaker level. "All ships are to slow their orbit. We're heading into atmosphere." This would bring her fleet into range of whatever weaponry the target's army and the local militias had, but a direct fight had now become necessary.

"We've got a massive Warp Space exit!" The intel officer had lost calm in his tone; a calm he kept even when the fleet was being showered with Dehaka's missiles. "It's… colossal…"

Alarmed, and thinking quickly, Mira held down a button for her connection with the Glass Raven. "Karla, what have you got?"

" _It… it's a Leviathan."_

Even Mira Han, a hardened mercenary felt a chill run up her spine. The impossibly broad diameter of Warped Space manifested as the creature's titanic mass appeared in their vicinity, closer to the planet than any faster-than-light travel had a right to bring anything. The Leviathan was bigger than all 5 Battlecruisers put together, and was just ahead of them in their orbital trajectory. Slowly, patiently, it pivoted its facing toward Mira's fleet as it launched waves of scourges.

"One eighty turn for all vessels." Mira ordered quickly. "Put your full burn into killing your orbit. We need to drop into atmosphere, now!" Two of her Battlecruisers; those that hadn't fired their Yamato cannons yet, didn't listen to this order. They angled their facing and began charging their main guns, targeting the mammoth Zerg some distance ahead. "Dammit!" She pounded an armrest. "Flutter, Wildshot, what the hell are you doing?"

There was no reply. Mira knew that two, three, even four Yamato blasts would not be enough to kill something that size, and having wasted time shooting at it, the two already banged up Battlecruisers would be swarmed by the massive flock of flying strains coming for them ahead of the Leviathan. "Daffodil, continue your maneuver with my ship. All units I repeat: Kill your orbit and drop into atmosphere. Do it, or you're dead. Is that understood?"

" _Continue with your mission, Mira Han. Once you're in atmosphere, you can kill the target."_ Karla said overaudio transmission. _"Leave the Leviathan to us. We'll keep it off your back."_

Stressed by two of her Battlecruisers having essentially doomed themselves, Mira let her anger slip. "Just who the hell is this target, Simmons? No lies."

A pause. _"…Princess Saraslha, of the Zerg Swarm."_

"Oh… hoh!" A bit of laughter erupted from Mira's surprise at this. Now she knew why Kuraski didn't say much about the target. "So if I kill her…"

" _The Leviathan goes feral, and will be much easier to destroy. Work fast, Mira Han."_

She'd quickly weighed the prospect of the possible war this would lead to, and it wasn't entirely unappealing. Big wars made it a seller's market for mercenary groups. Most might worry about the personal target it would make of their own selves for doing the deed, but Mira Han could live with killing the Princess.

Mira's Flagship, along with the Daffodil, and the bulk of the Marauders' tactical fighters had killed their orbital velocity, and were now falling quickly into the planet's nighttime cloud cover.

* * *

David Kuraski was at his desk, listening to Karla's report of the situation over Tarsonis. "…And Mira's chances of terminating the target?"

" _Still quite good, sir. But the Leviathan is a serious threat. I'm deploying the Chronos."_

"Very well." His hands were knitted as he peered over them from a downward-angled face. "Be certain to log the battle."

" _Aye sir."_ The transmission ended. Kuraski rose to his feet, picking up a glass of wine. It was dark and silent in his pristine glass and metal office space. Before his own mind's eye, he saw the chessboard arrayed before him. "A very inspired move, Saraslha… But will it be enough?" Staring at the imaginary board, he took a sip of wine.

* * *

 **Saraslha**

I had a pressure can of whipped cream, which I sprayed into my own mouth, letting it build up and pile on my tongue before shutting my mouth over the soft, sweet substance. I was still looking out the window of my office, watching my soldiers strengthen the perimeter around the building and their SCVs assemble additional missile towers to complement the permanent ones.

My Leviathan had arrived. Just over a week ago, it had been left to wait ever so patiently at the deserted meeting place where I boarded Admiral Horner's ship. Through Rindell, and then Izsha with her crystal, it could be summoned here, to Tarsonis.

I could see through its eyes: Two of the mercenary Battlecruisers remained behind to fire their Yamato Cannons at my Leviathan. Mutalisks strafed the two ships and Scourges crashed into their hulls. I fired a Bio-Plasmid Discharge at one of the ships. This penetrated its already damaged hull and caused its superstructure to bend. Its Yamato Blast fired, but due to the entire ship being bent it would miss my Leviathan and go into deep space. This crippling damage caused it to begin falling toward the planet.

The other Yamato shot connected though, and I felt my Leviathan's pain as the searing-hot concentration of particles hammered into its carapace, got through and burned into its innards. Eventually, the blast expended its thermal energy and its particles became soot and ash merged with the cooked biomass of the wounded area. The damage was far from lethal, but it would take time for an injury of that scale to heal.

The second Battlecruiser was doomed; there was nothing it could do to defend itself. Its particle cannons fired wildly, sometimes directly hitting a flying strain and killing it, but most shots missed. It was vastly outnumbered by my Leviathan's aerospace flock, and the Battlecruiser's tactical fighters had been wiped out. Soon its hull would fissure open or its Fusion Core explode, and that would be the end of it.

But this didn't happen. To my surprise the remaining Battlecruiser made a long range Warp jump, darting ahead past my Leviathan and escaping to some distant star system. I decided not to send a pursuit force. It was far too crippled to occupy its crew with anything but damage control, and therefore wasn't a threat.

The other half of the mercenary fleet had gone under the cloud cover of the planet's upper atmosphere, and was headed straight for Megiddo and my building nearby. Their capital ships could not move near as fast in an environment with air resistance, but soon they would be in my vicinity, and then I expect they would deploy a land army.

A noise in the physical space I occupied. Somebody had opened the door to my office. I turned, it was Keid. "Marchen. You're still here..?"

"Saraslha, they've deployed the Chronos."

A feeling of apprehension came over me. I turned back toward the window, shifting my perspective back to the Leviathan. It had been set to move over Tarsonis until it reached the area above my location, where it would adopt a geosynchronous orbit and drop reinforcements when I needed them. The GenTek ship was well out of range, and I thoroughly scanned the area between it and my Leviathan. My Zerg aerospace strains had been recalled, and were flying patrol patterns around the Leviathan's titanic mass.

6 Mutalisks were killed, at the same time. My immediate shift of perspective to that area showed no hostile presence. The dead Mutalisks' wounds showed a thick spike or stake having driven through them with such a velocity as to split their bodies apart.

"The Chronos is a masterpiece of Warp Drive technology." I heard Keid say in my office. "It can send parts of itself through narrow tactical warps, shrinking the space between the weapon and the target and translating this into pure velocity. Its six arms have monomolecular spikes at the end, which might as well be the muzzles of sniper cannons."

"How do I kill it?" That was all I needed to know right now. Through my Leviathan's sensors I finally spotted the Chronos. It was in fast motion a long distance away. Its ovular shape had opened, splitting its shell into six arms in a star arrangement. Immediately, I fired a Bio-Plasmid discharge and sent dozens of Scourges bee lining for it.

It all missed when the six-armed machine performed a tactical Warp, evading the Bio Plasmid discharge and depriving my Scourges of a target. It emerged on the other flank of my Leviathan, moving at an extremely fast strafing velocity. Its facing was fixed on my big biological flagship. More of my Mutalisks and Scourges were killed as it unleashed a disjointed flurry of Warp-driven thrusts with robotic spike arms. These attacks always connected perfectly, even on strains that were moving as fast as possible in evasive, unpredictable motions.

More flying strains beelined toward it, the bulk of their number remaining even as the Chronos shot them down while accelerating away from them with its single booster, oriented in the same direction as its arms. When my strains got too close it made another Tactical Warp.

"It's operated by a synthetic Zerg brain, which serves as a supercomputer the size of a soccer ball. it doesn't make mistakes, it doesn't slow down, and it reasons."

"I need to kill it, Keid. Predicate your advice on that."

"I only worked on a part of it, and its test data was above my pay grade." He said. "That test data would reveal its shortcomings, and was kept in the databanks of the Olympus Facility. But that…"

"We already hit that place." I completed. "They'll have moved anything valuable out just to be safe." This was getting frustrating. "Where else would the data be?"

"GenTek's corporate headquarters."

I shook my head at this. "Tosh would need planning and preparation for that, and there's no time. We need another place, even if there's only a tangential chance…" A thought hit me. "Where would they have moved the Chronos itself?"

A pause as he considered. "…GenTek West. My old workplace. Its hangar is the only other building on Korhal where the Chronos would fit."

I felt a bit of weight leave my shoulders. Finally, some good news. "GenTek West it is." I opened my eyes, turning around to indicate the tablet on my desk. "Contact Gabriel Tosh on Korhal and tell him what he's looking for. He has half an hour."

* * *

Gabriel Tosh performed ops like this in his sleep, so the half hour deadline was nothing. GenTek West was on the outskirts of Augustgrad, where there were no elevated plates or sublevels in this area's arcology; only the ground level. Tosh and two other Spectres rode Vulture bikes in the sparsely developed desert badland, approaching the giant building.

A wire fence surrounded the large property of GenTek West. The first Spectre steered to make a sideways pass on it, striking a long cut through the simple metal barrier with his blade before veering away, barely slowing down. Tosh made a similar pass striking a second cut at a new angle. The third Spectre behind him would complete the hole as their formation made a tight turn to enter the new opening head-on.

The first Vulture knocked through the freed chunk of wire fence as it easily fit through the hole. Tosh and the third Spectre followed. The main building was just ahead.

They abandoned their vultures and moved briskly on foot to a plain back door in the structure's rectangular exterior shape. An outdoor camera panned to their direction and was about to spot them, but their cloaking activated with adept timing, hiding them. Their Vultures were not left in any camera's field of vision.

Several seconds later, by total coincidence, an employee opened the door from the inside, coming out. The Spectre closest to the door immediately had an arm around his neck, holding him in a chokehold. Within a few seconds the employee was unconscious, and the three Spectres went through the open door, one of them dragging his limp body inside before the camera panned back to them.

" _The camera would notice blood, so I didn't cut him open."_ The telepathic voice of the Spectre said as the other shut the door behind them. They were inside a storage room, with boxes stacked in a grid arrangement and a forklift in the corner. It was nighttime, and there were no other people about.

" _We should finish him off."_ The other said as he turned to Tosh. _"Brother, what is the Client's inclination on body count?"_

" _Leave him be."_ Tosh said. _"We're not gonna be here long."_ He indicated the door. _"Pesci, you'll stand by here. This'll be our exit. Buratz you're with me."_

* * *

 **Saraslha**

The object lain before me was a tablet, much bigger than mine and delivered by a random mercenary who'd squeezed through the door in his powered armor. I stood up when he entered, expecting something out of the ordinary. "What is this?"

" _O'Malley received it in the mail half an hour ago ma'am."_ The merc said through his suit's speaker. _"It's addressed to you."_

"From whom?"

"… _David Kuraski, it says."_

I could safely assume that O'mally wouldn't deliver it to me without scanning it for a bomb or transponder. "Thank you for delivering it. You can go."

He saluted, then turned and left.

"Alright Kuraski…" I found the power switch on the tablet. "What was so important it couldn't wait 'till after our battle?" My Leviathan was still in orbit overhead, constantly deploying new airborne strains to harass the Chronos as it continued to thin them out, sometimes making direct hits on the Leviathan itself. Tosh had twenty minutes to get the data I needed.

The tablet lit up, displaying a live video feed of the office, black suit and dark skinned personage of David Kuraski himself. He appeared relaxed, no doubt seeing me as well.

I spoke first: "You apparently wanted a live chat with my humble self." My brow shifted to a glare. "Well you got it. Bask in my radiance, human."

Kuraski's relaxed demeanor didn't change. "Princess Saraslha…" He looked a bit more intent. "Your human visage is convincing. To see through it, I'd need to be present to smell you."

I adopted a detached smile. "Smell wouldn't help ya, Davie. I take a shower every day."

His eyes shut, and he took a breath. "I… was under no delusion that I could keep you contained in Augustgrad for long, and so I must ask…"

I raised my eyebrows a bit. "You want to know why I haven't escaped."

"It does interest me, yes."

"Pride, mostly..." I looked off. "I am a Zerg, you know. And more than that I'm a leader. Showing weakness, showing ineptitude; these are not options for me." I met his eyes again with my own. "My turn for a question: Why did you try to have me killed?"

"Do I owe you that explanation?"

I shrugged. "Assuming you have one, you lose nothing from telling it to me."

"Hmph," he showed a bit of calm indignation. "I suppose so."

I made a hand gesture, beckoning him to continue.

"I don't think there's any malice in you." His posture formalized, with his expression becoming stone serious. "You're too young and steeped in fantasy to do what you're doing intentionally."

"And what's that, hm?" my arms crossed. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"Subjugating Humanity. Making us your inferiors; your vassals."

I didn't quite know what he was talking about, and my head tilted a bit as a result.

"Others may not see what lies further down the road, but I do. I see you controlling the Dominion and making it answerable to the Swarm. I see you tying our economy so intimately to your nation and your assets, that we're reduced to a vassal state, amenable to your wishes. Absorbing GenTek would only be the start for you; you'll use your trade pull, and unlimited lifespan to utterly dominate our economy; our lifeblood, fueled by the Emperor's populist policies. Even if you have no ill will toward Humanity, your very presence, your very nature as a Zerg is infesting us."

My breath came in with a calm heaviness, my eyes shut, and then opened again as my mouth opened to speak. "You are precisely correct, David Kuraski." I could actually hear my voice break, unintentionally, to a calmer, deeper pitch as I said this.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, you're spot on, Kuraski. I am a Zerg, and ours is the power of life itself. And an inescapable trait of life is the thirst for dominance. The tree which grows to glorious heights and kill the saplings below it. Alpha Kings and Queens who propagate their image. Like it or not I'm cut from that cloth, and you're correct to fear what I might do." I shot to my feet, leaning over the tablet screen with my arms propped on the desk. "You're correct to fear what I'll do to you."

Kuraski had a low, sadistic grin that chilled me in how similar it was to my own. "I welcome the challenge, Saraslha."

I felt elated. I couldn't wait to see what he'd throw at me next once I finally dealt with his six-armed toy over the planet. "Likewise, Kuraski."

Without cutting the connection with me, I saw him take a phone off his desk and call somebody. "Karla, it's time to take the gloves off." I saw his eyes shoot over to me. "Release the limiters on the Chronos." He got a brief response that I didn't hear, and ended the call.

My eyes snuck over to my own tablet. There was an update on Tosh's mission. He got the data, and was 17 minutes ahead of schedule. Knowing Kuraski would have no way of knowing what I'd gotten, I reached a hand over and opened the attached file, sitting back in my chair as I did this.

"Your Leviathan will not last." Kuraski said. "And Mira will arrive at your compound soon; the forces she can still deploy outnumber yours significantly."

I relaxed. "Have I told you what an excellent tactician I am? Not to brag, but I'm awesome."

A huff of laughter. "All of my plans against you have worked around that detail."

"How's Niadra doing?"

An instant frown. My words had gotten to him slightly. "Still very much an asset, even if a dead one."

The door to my office opened. It was Keid again, carrying an item I asked for. "Whelp," I shrugged. "This has been a lovely chat, Kuraski. But there are things which demand my attention, as I'm sure there are things which demand yours." Without waiting for a response I pulled a drawer out of my desk and took a hammer out, and then proceeded to smash the delivered tablet, hitting it a large number of times and disfiguring it as its shape was warped and crushed.

"Window's open, Saraslha."

The item Keid fetched was a prototype gauss gun, with a broad barrel and experimental magnetic structure. I folded the smashed tablet like a hot dog bun and stuffed it into the muzzle as he offered it to me. "You're sure this'll send it far enough?"

"More than far enough." With apparent joy, he aimed the large gun out of the opened window, and fired. The earsplitting noise of the gunshot immediately followed. The crushed tablet was sent far away; a shrinking black dot on the horizon.

And then, precisely one minute later, the sky was alight again with another Yamato blast which came from orbit. It fell on the area where we fired the tablet, destroying more of the old city.

0909090909090

Mira took the news stoically as the transmission from the Glass Raven came in. "So your shot missed as well." Her groan was loud and pronounced. "Just perfect. I'm killing the target the messy way then."

" _The shot definitely hit our inert bug in the tablet. Saraslha had to have moved it a great distance in a short amount of ti—"_ The transmission cut off.

"We've lost contact with the Glass Raven." The comms officer reported.

"Did the Leviathan get them?"

"No, we're still reading them intact, on a much higher orbit than the Leviathan." The intelligence officer said. "Something is jamming us, Boss. Something advanced."

Mira was about to say something but was cut off by the bridge's main screen activating. The person on screen was Nova Terra.

"What the hell is going on!" Mira said. The comms officer just shrugged while looking her way, shaking his head.

"No worries." Nova said over the bridge's speakers. "I only jacked into your ship's mainframe."

Mira frowned. "Jacked my mainframe…"

"While I was aboard your ship, of course."

Her teeth grit at this. "You snotty little Dominion lap do-"

"Call off your attack, or you die."

Mira's two remaining Battlecruisers were nearly to the target area in low atmosphere. Flying just above the metallic urban terrain of Tarsonis made it nearly impossible for the Leviathan above to detect them from orbit, even if it wasn't being harassed by the Chronos. "That's a big claim, little girl. You're obviously bluffing."

On the screen, Nova held up a handheld detonator. "A charge was planted on your ship's fusion core." She showed a hint of smugness as a crewmember got a look from Mira,then turned and left the bridge to investigate. "It's amazing how lax a mercenary ship's internal security can be. Infiltrating it was a cakewalk.

As the seconds went by of seeing this Ghost's face, Mira slowly came to recognize her, and a chill slowly went up her spine. "You… you're…" It made all the sense in the world now, that she'd be here, protecting the Dominion's interests by protecting the Zerg Princess.

"That's right, Mira Han. Warp out of here, now, and don't come back. It's the only way to get out of range of my detonator in time. One way or another, in thirty seconds I'm pressing it."

The loss of two ships, and now the lack of a payout. Mira's gut sank as the sense of defeat settled itself in her mind. "Very well… Daffodil, initiate a Warp Jump ASAP. I'm doing the same."

* * *

Nova saw the shafts of warped space pass over the sky as she observed Mira's retreat from the courtyard of Saraslha's compound. She reached out a mental link to Saraslha in her office in the building. _"The bluff worked, Saraslha. Mira's hightailed it out of here."_

" _Hehe… Knew she would~"_

Nova held up the button handle, which she'd passed off as a detonator. _"What is this thing anyway? It looks like something that was broken off an arcade machine."_ She pressed the button several times for amusement. It had a good spring.

" _Actually, I think it was."_

" _I didn't even leave your compound. The video feed was done by my ship… Ther wasn't much for me to do this time around."_

 _Don't worry about it Nova. You did your part, and saved me a lot in cost and risk."_

* * *

The Chronos had been dealing only superficial damage to the Leviathan as it hit and ran, surviving and killing flying strains by the dozen. It had not taken a single hit.

It warped a generous distance away from the Leviathan, with many seconds to spare before the relentless stream of Zerg got close enough to attack. With its six arms set in default positions, its monomolecular spike hands were shifted aside. Out of the revealed openings came a variance of different delicate instruments which were set with the materials and compounds necessary to create an unstable Fusion Reaction.

These hands; these partitioned pieces of a full Hydrogen Bomb were thrust forward through their own Warp tunnels. One component set near the Leviathan, followed by two other tools which contributed their own sequences and compressed matter. These tactical warps shot obliviously past the wing of flying strains approaching the Chronos. At the end of the sequence, as the final arm was retracted, an explosion.

The ball of fire expanded brutally, eating away at the Leviathan's outer carapace while the sheer kinetic force of the explosion propelled the center of its organic superstructure toward the planet below, and afterward cause its head and rear areas to snap in the same direction in compensation.

The Chronos warped itself away from the scene.

* * *

 **Saraslha**

Me and Keid were combing through the data Tosh had sent. "Oh-Nine Two is nearly ready, according to O'Malley." I said to him. "Will the Glass Raven take it?"

"It would detect the discharge, and perform an emergency tactical warp." He said.

My Leviathan was in pain. The signal came to me abruptly, and I rose to my feet. As these signals and deaths of hundreds of smaller strains entered my mind, I walked to my window, and saw it.

The titanic mass of my Leviathan was coming down into atmosphere, passing over my building and standby mercenary army. Almost the entire surface area of its right side was cooked to a glimmering charcoal hue. Horror for the creature came over me as looking at its profile from directly below revealed just how much of its body had been eaten away. It was lucky to even be alive; that the effected area was heavily burned was perhaps the only thing keeping it from bleeding to death.

Normally I put up a face, normally I felt in control of a situation, but now… if the Chronos could do something like that… it was only a matter of time before it mopped up my remaining flyers, then it would come for me… My mind shifted to the Leviathan as my hands set on the sill under the window, my arms propped as my back and gut felt weak. The suffering my faithful vessel was enduring... "I'm sorry…"

A hand on my shoulder; I was numb to it. He probably had something to say, but none of it would help. Keid meant well, but he wasn't a Zerg; he wouldn't understand.

He spoke: "The Glass Raven would make periodic scans, of the target area of its emergency tactical warp." His hand lifted off. "To make sure that area remains clear."

My still functioning reasoning faculty took this in, and my head lifted at it. "This means…"

"We can still win, Saraslha. We can predict its warp vector."

I turned around immediately, putting up a face of optimism and determination in uprising against the crappy feeling I had. "Get it done, Doctor Marchen. Get a target, and get it to O'malley."

He nodded, and quickly turned to leave, no further words were necessary.

* * *

Word of the break-in at GenTek West had quickly reached Kuraski. He knew what they were after, and knew it wouldn't be of any use to Saraslha. Even if she knew the Chronos' shortcomings, there was nothing she had left that could exploit them. Her Leviathan was out of action, and all she had now was the land force around her compound, and they would be helpless against the Chronos.

He had won.

The mental chessboard arrayed before him had lost a lot of pieces, but all she had were pawns and herself, and he had power pieces. It was the late-game, and his victory assured.

An employee came up to his elevated space carrying a package. It was placed on his desk. "Addressed to you, sir."

Broken from his thoughts, Kuraski looked at the package, then at the employee. "From whom?"

"From somebody named 'Lednir'." He said, shrugging. "Definitely a fake name, but we scanned it for foul play."

"Alright then, thank you Carlton." Carlton took his leave, and Kuraski opened the package.

It was a tablet.

With a genuine, freshly provoked amusement, he turned it on. Displayed on the screen was the plain metallic office, flowing violet dress, and short black hair of Saraslha's human guise. She had a friendly smile as she nodded in greeting.

"You wanted to spend your final moments talking to me." He tsked, shaking his head. "I'm flattered."

"Just wanted you to have a front row seat to my victory and your frustrated reversion to the drawing board. A part of me… wants to show you what I'm capable of."

"I don't consider defeat a capability, Saraslha, no matter how glorious or noble."

She had a low, evil grin. "Me neither." The screen of the tablet switched from a live feed of her to an external view of a Drakken anti-orbital gun, hastily assembled in the concealment of the old city, and attended by a crew of mercenaries and engineers. The large gun was pivoting, orienting to a target high above.

Kuraski frowned. He didn't expect this, but there was no way she could shoot the Chronos with it.

"Y'see Kuraski, I know a lot about your toy now. For example: Quite a bit of compromises had to be made for its high-output, high-tolerance Warp drive. That it was brought here on the underbelly of a Battlecruiser should have given it away..." The screen reverted to her, and she had a smug expression. "It can't make long-distance jumps, can it?"

Kuraski's face became a blank, any expression he made now, including ending the transmission, might give something away to her.

She saw this and snapped her fingers. "I knew it!"

"Do keep digging, you pampered little child." His face remained blank, but on the inside it had a shrill glare.

"A limited operational time too, I'm guessing? Lot of energy that thing needs. When it runs low it's time to hit the road, right?" She had a melodramatic look of somberness. "Can't do that if the carrier doesn't stick around, though…"

Kuraski's left eye twitched. His hand shot over to his phone. "Karla, you're about to get hit—"

"Fire!" Saraslha's hand swept through the air.

The video feed went to the Drakken firing, and then a live render of the Glass Raven generated by sensors. It had detected the discharge of the gun and made a tactical Warp. Kuraski felt relief wash over him.

But the Battlecruiser actually took a direct hit from the Drakken, which had fired exactly at the place the ship moved itself. The round punctured its superstructure and came out the other end. "Sir!" Karla's voice came from his phone. "The Glass Raven has taken critical damage. There are no other options. I'm withdrawing with the Chronos."

With the tightest motion he was capable of, Kuraski moved his phone to his mouth. "Get out of there, Karla. You've done enough."

The tablet showed Saraslha again. "I'm not going to kill you, Kuraski. When you're at my mercy, beaten and no longer a threat, I'd like the chance to shake your hand."

"This isn't over…" He said in a low voice. "It's not over!" He bellowed with an abnormal lack of control.

"Your next move…" She said, her arms crossed. "Is to activate another of your merc contracts, get them here on short notice, and attack me with a second wave." She shook her head. "What you don't know, is that if you do this, five minutes before your fresh mercs arrive, the Dominion Armada will be orbiting the planet. Half the Core Fleet, I'd estimate, with the Hyperion at the head of it."

This story was ludicrous. Kuraski looked off, frowning. "That's nonsense; a bluff."

"Oh?" She leaned forward. "You have informants in the Navy. Check their reports. A fleet is being prepped, and Tarsonis is their destination."

He looked to his computer screen, and opened an information feed. "You…" His face sank, appearing almost tired. He knew that one of her people must have given them false intel, and they had taken the bait. "You've won this round, Saraslha."

"You've been an amazing opponent, Kuraski." With this, the tablet shut off, and smoke emitted from it as its innards harmlessly destroyed themselves.


	15. Codex: Original Characters and Elements

**Normally I don't believe in exposition by glossary. If a detail or piece of backstory isn't important enough to be woven into the narrative, then there's no reason to include it at all. But in fan fiction a great deal of exposition is implicit, while characters and elements unique to the work in question need to be explained from the ground up. This perfectly skippable glossary is just a rundown to that effect. The backstory of every original character and element.**

 **It's also a chance for me to be super-lazy by writing in pure exposition, as we're all tempted to do from time to time.**

 **This codex is largely spoiler-free, describing only events leading up to the very beginning of the story, and things which are okay to know going in.**

 **Characters**

 **Zerg: (Introduced in part I)**

 **Saraslha** (Pronounced however you'd like, though if asked I'd say 'Sir-ahs-luh')

The main character of this story. Created by the Zerg Overqueen through the incorporation of Terran essence combined with her own. As a half human, Saraslha is a deliberately vulnerable being, forced to adapt through unconventional means and create new ways by which herself, and by extension the Swarm can succeed and prosper.

The infant Saraslha's existence showed her mother a side of being sentient which she never before experienced. Large eyes which looked with curious wonder at the world. Curiosity, joy, sadness, frustration. Zagara's daughter being reliant on her for everything did not spark resentment in the fearsome Broodmother, but rather was an alien experience which grew on her.

Every biological trait of Saraslha was designed by Zagara, including her sex. (She could just as easily have been a male character, but the Zerg have a matriarchy element going for them.) In spite of being born a Zerg, human expression and body language come naturally to her, and she can talk with either mind or mouth.

Living mainly on Char, Saraslha grew quickly and learned quickly, having studied history and events from before her birth, as well as alien (Human) science and technology, exploring many abandoned Terran bases and ships from past invasions and battles.

Her inherent physical and psionic mediocrity forces her to be clever and tactful; thinking outside the box and constantly exploring new methods and lines of study. In spite of being able to control only a small number of Zerg at a time, she seldom lost a war game with any Broodmother.

At Saraslha's fourth year of life, she was at the size and mental state of a human teenager, and it was at this point that Zagara bestowed upon Saraslha her first true test: Clearing the feral brood from a newly charted planet, which would make way for Dominion colonization. This was a diplomatic gesture on the Overqueen's part, and would be the first time in which the young Saraslha would go outside the telepathic range of her mother.

 **Broodmother Rindell**

Born, like Saraslha, after the End War's conclusion, Rindell matured rapidly after birth, reaching a level of psi strength and physical aptitude typically expected of a Broodmother twice her age. The more senior Broodmother who ruled the colony world she called home took her as an apprentice.

Rindell's life took a significant turn upon meeting Saraslha during the Overqueen's visit to her mentor's planet. Insulted by the frail, weak Saraslha referring to the Overqueen as her "mother," Rindell challenged her to a war match, in which Rindell was outwitted at every turn and soundly defeated.

This loss was a motivating experience for Rindell, who set out to prove Saraslha as a fluke; a failed experiment. She developed new strategies and grew stronger, training for the Overqueen's next visit, and the next match she'd be able to have with the accompanying Saraslha. In spite of all her efforts, Saraslha would always defeat her, and with each defeat Rindell's resentment grew.

A chance to finally regain her dignity presented itself upon hearing of Saraslha's mission. She followed the young half-Terran to Sephulli intending to fight her without restrictions. This time, it would be for keeps.

 **Vaus (semi-canon)**

Upon the Overmind's successful capture of a strong Terran psychic, a new cerebrate was created specifically to protect this prize while she transformed inside a chrysalis. The Cerebrate was a gifted commander, and protected the helpless, developing being inside the Chrysalis with ease, destroying any forces which came to harm it.

Later, after the Queen of Blades' emergence and newfound independence, the Overmind brought this Cerebrate and its brood along in his invasion of Aiur, where it won key battles and secured the Swarm's foothold on the Protoss homeworld, paving the way for the Overmind's embedment on its surface.

The Queen of Blades would later reclaim this cerebrate from the second Overmind. It was at this point the Cerebrate would serve as a dirty work taskmaster, winning battle after battle in the queen's name until everything culminated with the enemies she'd made in her increasingly irrational stream of betrayals and manipulations gathering over Char to wipe her from existence. After a long and fierce battle, the Cerebrate defeated this giant coalition, sparing the Queen of Blades from all karma and bringing the Brood War to a close.

For all his efforts and successes, the cerebrate was given a one-way ticket to the sweet sleep of death on account of his kind's obsolescence. He defended himself in fighting retreat before finally being cornered on planet Sephulli, where he was torn to shreds. His now feral brood occupies the planet to this day.

 _Side note: (Minor Spoiler) Seriously, the line below this is a spoiler._

 _May write side chapter or one-shot depicting his story after the events on Sephulli._

 **Terrans: (Introduced in part II)**

 **Keid Marchen**

Marchen grew up possessing an exceptional intellect among a family of fringe-world farmers. In spite of having higher aspirations, he found contentment with the life his birthplace offered. Living with a less intelligent family and friends bred a degree of social aptitude in his otherwise introverted mind.

The outbreak of the Second Great War would change everything. A Zerg drop pod landed right next to his family's homestead, and they were all killed. Keid survived only because he was away at the time. Following this, he joined the local militia as his hometown became more fortified and embattled by the day. As supplies dwindled and the Zerg attacks intensified, the town's population made a trek for the nearest starport, fighting off more regular attacks as they traveled. Only half the town's population and militia were able to escape the planet aboard a civilian refugee ship.

Life in the militia for a refugee group was a window for Marchen to see the worst in Humanity. Infighting, famine, giant piles of excrement made by mobs of people too impatient to leave the camp or get in line for a ship's restrooms. People would rob and murder each other over dwindling resources. In spite of his newly-borne resentment toward ordinary people, as a militiaman he was obliged to protect them.

Salvation came when the Queen of Blades' defeat on Char halted and scattered the Swarm. The Dominion armada struck out, regaining most of its lost territory. Discharged, and with no home to return to, Marchen moved to the Core Worlds, scraping by on unskilled work with a lack of any higher education. In spite of having a gifted mind, no university or institute would accept him without referral or connection.

During the End War, a militarily exhausted Dominion called upon every citizen with even a modicum of military experience to defend its people from Amon's forces. Marchen would re-don his CMC armor, a nameless Marine in this conflict as well.

Following the End War's end, while re-adjusting once again to civilian life, Marchen found his window out of poverty in the form of GenTek and its meritocratic hiring method which relied on aptitude testing and on-the-job training. He was hired, and after several years of internship and parallel curriculum he earned a position in the company's hard sciences staff.

 **David Kuraski**

A very private individual whose name rose to not entirely desired prominence following the Brood War. He is the founder and CEO of GenTek Corporation.

With the Dominion rebuilding itself from the ground up following the Brood War, GenTek was one of the many companies that rode on this boom and became a known brand throughout Koprulu, with Kuraski himself coming to be known as one of the great business negotiators of Terran space.

This success is contrasted by a greyer side to GenTek's rise. Kuraski is known among those in his own company and social circles for extreme ethical flexibility. He is willing to approve any project or experiment, no matter how inhumane or dangerous, if he thinks something productive is likely to be gleaned from it. When practical, he has also had no compunctions about laying off his closest associates; people who'd been with the company for years, but who were no longer useful. This all comes from the same pragmatic mind that built such a successful company, and there are few arguments his colleagues can present against it.

 **Karla Simmons**

When Kuraski was first starting out, he had a business partner with whom he worked closely. When both men were exploring the site of a past battle for technology and salvage, the discharge from a semi-operational Protoss war machine unleashed in their direction. The partner was killed, while Kuraski was spared. This business partner was Karla Simmons' father.

Feeling an obligation toward his colleague's now orphaned teenage daughter, Kuraski offered her a job at his then young company. They worked together for awhile, and while Kuraski was emotionally withdrawn and motivated solely by work, his simple presence and the frequent business-oriented conversations they had were enough to help Karla move on from her father's death by embracing purpose. She didn't blame Kuraski for what happened.

Time passed, and Simmons left the company to enroll in a military academy. She graduated years later, and could have entered the military as an entry-level officer, but chose instead to go back to working for GenTek, where she was hired as the company's head of security.

Taking after Kuraski, Simmons is every bit as driven and dedicated in her line of work as Kuraski is in his own. She is an astute tactician, which complements Kuraski's broader strategic thinking. In spite of being a complete non-psychic, she has outsmarted, evaded and even captured Ghosts and Spectres whom posed a threat to GenTek's interests.

 **Locations:**

 **Planet Sephulli (Part I)**

A terrestrial, life-supporting planet whose system lies in the outer fringes of Koprulu.

Recently discovered and charted from orbit by a Dominion survey party, Sephulli has experienced a recent explosion of its indigenous life forms in abundant quantity and variety. Some areas of the planet remain lifeless badland, and its landmass lacks any indigenous fauna larger than a bug.

The only thing standing in the way of human colonization is a sizable population of feral Zerg. The Dominion government has brought this to the attention of the Swarm's Overqueen, making its discovery political in scope.

 **The town of Megiddo (Part II)**

An island of barely passable civilization in the otherwise lawless ruin known as Tarsonis. This town of ~1,000 people sprang up naturally on account of the Terran population of miners, scrappers and travelers needing somewhere to sleep, trade and assemble.

The centerpiece of the town is its Starport, built during the Confederacy's heyday, abandoned when the Confederacy fell, and restored to working order by a coalition of shipping companies interested in seeing it operating. It is one of the few places on Tarsonis where it's safe for civilian ships to land.

 **Zerg Strains:**

 **Pyrolisk (Introduced in ch.3)**

Hastily invented by Saraslha during her war with Broodmother Rindell. It is a four-legged, bulky creature with an armored shell; highly resembling a tortoise. A turret on the peak of its shell splits open for a panoramic circumference of pores which hose a liquid napalm at varying directions and pressures.

Cost: 100 Min. 150 Gas. 2 supply. Prerequisite: Lair, Hailfire Grotto

Strengths:

Its napalm can form walls and deterrents which manipulate and delay the movement path of enemy land armies. If it chooses it can also fire weak streams from every pore at once, maintaining a close circle of fire around itself.

It is heavily armored and can take a lot of damage.

Weaknesses:

Extra armor makes it bulkier and slower than it would otherwise need to be.

While deadly, its napalm is its only weapon and is subject to an energy reserve which takes time to replenish without Consumption. If it runs empty, it's helpless.

Cannot attack air targets.

 **Cryolisk (introduced in ch.6)**

Another of Saraslha's strains, this time jointly designed by Abathur. It is fast and nimble unlike the Pyrolisk; anatomically similar to a giant rabbit or prairie dog. As the name suggests it delivers jets of freezing compound from a hard hose end in its mouth, and does so with great range and accuracy.

Cost: 100 Min. 200 Gas. 3 supply. Prerequisite: Hive, Hailfire Grotto

Strengths:

Cooldown-dependent heavy bursts of its freezing attack can weigh down air units and temporarily bring them to the ground, where they can be attacked as though they're land units (Like the Phoenix in reverse.)

Its basic attacks slow the movement and attack speed of any biological target it strikes, as well as mechanical units to a lesser extent. With time and micromanagement it can kill an Ultralisk on its own 1v1 without taking damage.

Its speed allows it to flee from most enemies, and also run down small aircraft that are traveling or retreating if terrain allows.

Does not run out of freezing compound.

Weaknesses:

Lightly armored and not able to take much damage.

Can only attack one target at a time with a slow, committed rate of fire. Vulnerable to swarms of cheaper units.

Essentially an anti-aircraft, anti-tank glass cannon.

 **Cuotl**

A large flying strain created for the express purpose of moving materials and dropping them from high altitude in pods. While this function has uses in terms of war logistics, its main purpose is to facilitate newly established trade between Zagara's Swarm and the Dominion.

 **Infernolisk**

A giant experimental sub strain of the Pyrolisk, it is still in early prototype and not worth its considerable cost to produce.

Cost: 700 min, 700 gas, 12 supply. Morphed from: Pyrolisk. Prerequisite: Hive, Hailfire Grotto. Infernolisk upgrade researched at Grotto.

Abilities:

Arena of Flame: vast circle of lasting fire forms a perimeter around the Infernolisk, trapping land units in its proximity.

Inferno Beam: Napalm is hosed out of the Infernolisk's mouth at immense volume and pressure, dealing heavy damage to any land unit caught in its line of fire.

Strengths:

Inherent armor of 3 and large pool of health.

Can attack in any direction without having to turn.

Weaknesses:

Expensive.

Conspicuous.

Painfully slow.

Cannot burrow.

Takes time to pivot its facing.

Helpless against air units.

Can still run out of napalm.

Inherited the Zergling lemon juice allergy. (Somehow)

 **Space Ships/Vessels**

 **Frank:**

Saraslha's personal leviathan, named on a whim and fitted with every personal amenity she could possibly imagine wanting while away from home, including a tool shop, Viking hangar, Evolution Pit, lounge, sewing shop, an army large enough to threaten a fringe world, and most especially a soft, plushy bedchamber for when she wants to lay down and have a little cry.

Incubated on Sephulli during Saraslha's mission there, Frank's nerve center is her preferred command center. Her fondness for the Terran Yamato Cannon tempted her to salvage one from a Battlecruiser on Char and try to install it in him. But she decided against going through with it out of empathy for the creature; the pain such an installation would cause it.

 **The Killer Snake:**

Flagship of the Viper Dragoons and also their home. It is a rare case among Terran capital ships of not possessing the common hammerhead frame design. Its sub light speed is exceptional among capital tier ships, making it capable of outrunning most vessels of similar mass. On the other hand, its warp drive is an extremely old heap of patchwork needing a long charge before each jump.

A veritable Frankenstein of both new and dated technologies, the Killer Snake itself is extremely old by starship standards, having changed owners many times and been refitted with new weapons, plating and systems on countless occasions. With the recent restoration work done on it, it can hold its own on the modern battlefield.

Some quirk or another is prone to erupt during battle, such as over thrusting and trajectory bugs that cause it to ram the enemy when that wasn't the intention, or its early generation Yamato Cannon drawing too much particle mass from its fusion core and firing an overcharge that overkills its target, leaving the Killer Snake in a low-power recharge state while its non-essential systems reboot.

The Viper Dragoons' commander loves the ship, and wouldn't trade it for all the essence in the world.

 **The Glass Raven:**

A Behemoth class Battlecruiser acquired by GenTek during its growth after the Brood War. At first used for security purposes in operations taking place in the fringe regions, it was gradually refitted to second as a research vessel, becoming a heavily armed laboratory which gathered and processed data and samples in hostile environments.

Its detection and communication systems are state of the art, allowing it to serve as an orbital command center and detect cloaked entities. This modernization enabled it to find a derelict Protoss vessel drifting through deep space in the direction of what used to be Shakuras. It was here that a significant discovery was found and recovered.

The Glass Raven is the largest spacecraft owned by GenTek, making it their de-facto flagship.

 **The Burning Spire**

When the Spear of Adun was returned to its dormancy, to serve again in another unforeseen time of crisis, a new class of vessel was designed and crafted in the restored starship forges on Aiur, with the first of its kind to serve as the Hierarch's flagship.

A new design which reflects the Firstborn's resolve to never again lose their homeworld, the Burning Spire was built primarily for war, and is armed with technology and design philosophy derided from every subculture within the Daelaam. While it remains to be tested in a true large-scale conflict for which it was designed, its existence, and the existence of two sister ships well on their way to completion have left a strong impression in the minds of all other factions of Koprulu, even the Zerg Overqueen.

Its sister ships, the Shadow Spire and Radiant Spire are designed and crewed by the Nerazim and Purifiers respectively, and while they're of a similar scale and arament as the Burning Spire, their architecture and coloration are distinct.

 **Organizations: (All Part II)**

 **GenTek:**

A manufacturing startup that specialized in general science, technology and engineering fields while keeping the window open to enter as broad a variety markets as possible in industrial machines, robotics and applied sciences. GenTek was able to expand into any areas it needed to fill market demands almost as soon as they appeared, helped by Kuraski's ability to read the Dominion's economy.

The corporation grew rapidly in the post Brood War setting, becoming prominent in a number of various industries from computer manufacturing to Xenobiology. It owns assets all over Terran Space, with its corporate headquarters located in Augustgrad.

GenTek has a vast array of mercenary contacts it can call upon, as well as a dedicated security and espionage force which it uses to protect its interests all across Dominion Space.

 **Little Bug Princess Heavy Industries (LBP):**

Founded by a wealthy teenage immigrant from the Umojan Protectorate. Like GenTek it is a manufacturing startup, with its young owner spending unprecedented amounts of capital to build an entity that competes with GenTek in its own game. At first assumed to be a minor blip in the business landscape, its leader has recently swiped a major contract from under Kuraski's nose, casting doubt on that assumption.

It is riding the economic boom following the End War and the new emperor's populist policies, which while not as intense as the ground-up post Brood War economy, is still fertile ground for startups of this nature.

 **Adaptive Systems Interplanetary (ASI):**

A large corporate conglomerate that unifies the industry for power grid infrastructure in the Terran Dominion. Due to this monopoly, anything which lowers the cost of energy lowers its overall financial value.

 **The Viper Dragoons (Introduced in ch.11):**

A Terran mercenary army led by the primal Zerg Dehaka.

After the events of Essence, written by Consort, Dehaka saw fit to found his own mercenary army in his ongoing quest to gather essence. With investment from a number of individuals, most prominently Nova Terra, the primal Zerg acquired an old ship in which he saw potential, and toured the fringe colonies aboard it as he enlisted all the green volunteers he could find. He grew his force from there, letting them gain experience in increments by taking easy, low-risk jobs as his old ship was gradually restored and refitted. His crew learned to operate and maintain this ship, as well as execute small-scale military operations in a variety of contracts, including bodyguard work, corporate sabotage, counter-sabotage and pirate hunting.

Seeing his new pack evolve from an eager but disorganized mass to a truly professional fighting force gave Dehaka a newly discovered feeling of pride; pride not only in himself but in the humans his understanding of whom continued to grow. He would go on to take higher-paying work and finally bring his organization into a profitable state. His investors were pleased, and he was able to equip his troops better and better. He christened this new organization the Viper Dragoons.

Dehaka would go on to lead the Viper Dragoons in a long series of jobs all over the Koprulu Sector in which he 'collected' payment, and also essence when he had the time. Presently, he's been offered a secretive, well-paying job from Admiral Horner, who has asked to meet with him personally on Korhal.


	16. Return to Augustgrad

My leviathan was dead. Its injuries from the Chronos' final attack were too much, and its impact on the planet surface ended what slivers of life force remained in it. It was my first flagship, grown back on Sephulli, and I'd gotten it killed. Now I understood why the Queen of Blades and my mother kept theirs out of harm's way. They're some of the few assets of the Swarm that are costly to replace.

The fake intel fed to the Dominion's intel agency by Gabriel's crew was effective. Shortly after the retreat of the GenTek forces, a massive human fleet exited Warp Space near Tarsonis, bearing the colors and regalia of the Terran Dominion. Nova told me telepathically that she had just reported everything to them. Now there was no way I could say no to her desire to take me back to Korhal.

So I told Keid he was in charge while I was away, and boarded Nova's Dropship like a good little princess. Nova sat across from me in the hold as we cleared Tarsonis' atmosphere. It was many minutes, and the silence got to me, so I spoke. "I… really do appreciate your help, Nova. If there's anything I can do to return the favor…" I looked off.

"I'll hold you to that."

This answer was a bit surprising. "Really? You'd accept help from a Zerg?"

She shrugged. "Why not? I might need supplies or money in the future. A princess owing me one is a resource, plain and simple. Besides…" She leaned back against the wall, her eyes shut as her head dipped back relaxedly. "I deserve some kind of kickback, for here, and helping you on Sephulli."

"I hear you've been trying to stay on the cleaner side of things in your work." I said as I leaned forward. "But if you need anything… shadier, delivered or done, that can be the favor."

"Good to know." She nodded. "All that aside…" Nova frowned slightly. "You can lose the human disguise."

I wasn't sure exactly when to revert, and shrugged as I stood up in the dropship's hold. "Are there any cameras down here?"

"Nope."

With this I gripped the top area of my strapless purple dress and pulled the whole thing up past my head. After getting a hold of it off me, I folded the custom-tailored garment over my forearm before setting it on the bench.

Nova was looking away now. "Wow, you… don't wear undergarments."

I stood there looking at her. "What's an undergarment?"

"Revert, fast, please." She said succinctly, still looking away.

"Human form is nothing to be ashamed of, Nova me old mate."

"Neither is a diary. That doesn't mean you go around reading it to people."

I put my thumb in my mouth and bit it, an action which Stetmann told me would shut off my disguise. He explained that the modified skin and Nerve cord size had to constantly assert itself over the default genes, and so all it took to revert was a signal for the modded traits to call it quits, which we decided would be significant pressure applied to my thumb.

It worked. My skin concentrated together and regenerated in the deprived areas, rapidly forming a layered grey carapace which armored everything except my joint ranges and head. At the same time, the skin which didn't build carapace darkened as my facial features shifted. Finally, my hairs merged together, and continued merging until they were thick nerve cords of the kind which would be found on a Broodmother.

"There's the bratty princess I know and tolerate." Nova had a snide smirk.

"Aww, that's sweet." I returned the expression and gestured melodramatically. "But I know you secretly ache when we part ways, given how sentimental and not-warrior-like you are."

"But of course," she shrugged detachedly. "I'm incomplete without a high-on-her-horse adolescent telling me what to do."

"I don't know what that means, but I do enjoy telling you what to do." I nodded, beady-eyed.

"Yes, well…" Nova sobered, looking off. "Reverting to real talk…"

The Dropship was slowing down. I lifted my eyebrows. "I'll… see you again after this, Nova."

"There's a stupid thought that I'm having, and it's even more stupid that I want to share it…" She rubbed her face.

"'Stupid' being code for you being embarrassed of it, right?" My head tilted.

"Never mind… Just me being silly." She waved it off. "We'll be landing soon."

I remained standing. "I get to see the interior of your ship, then?"

She shook her head. "No, the Hyperion. Admiral Horner wanted to speak to you as soon as possible. And…" Her cloaking engaged. "I'm not getting off with you."

I felt the Dropship land, and then its hold door opened, revealing the open floor of a hangar. "I'll see you later, Ghost Lady." I said in her general direction before walking out and down the ramp to the equally cold, equally metallic floor of the ship's hangar.

Being aboard a Terran capital ship was never a dull experience for me. I knew plenty about the Swarm, but learning about human civilization had, for a long time been an uphill climb of scrounging data and pulling together salvage on Char. Being aboard an intact Battlecruiser in operation painted a much fuller picture.

And it really was so unlike a Leviathan. As I walked to the nearest bulkhead opposite the Hangar's atmospheric barrier, I passed a number of humans. The busier ones were indifferent, while those walking looked at me and nodded in greeting, or looked away, displaying fear or apprehension. They all knew who I was, and the variety of reactions was intriguing. Such social animals humans were, so very unlike my people. Not even unified on the small matter of how to act around me. This hinted at the essence my mother wanted to appropriate from them when she created me. A spirit that kept them disunified, and yet could also compel them to achieve great things.

I approached a powered door, which opened automatically when I stepped close to it. It always made me think of a Leviathan's internal valves, meant to control air flow and separate chambers. I figured the metal ones on this ship served a similar purpose.

Same as last time, nobody got in my way as I strode confidently toward the bridge. I came out of a metal corridor into an open room with a high ceiling; it was a noisy gathering place full of music, booze and relaxed humans. Only glancing at this, I continued on to the next door.

"Over here, Saraslha."

The voice was familiar and I stopped. Sitting at a table in the Cantina was none other than Admiral Horner. He was in full uniform, and seated relaxedly with a filled glass in hand. He was looking straight at me.

With this I shrugged, and walked past the bar, over the floor to Horner's table. There was a free seat, and I took it across from him.

"I understand you've been quite… busy." Horner said.

"You don't know the half of it, Mister Horner. Mind if I get a drink?"

"Go right ahead." He took a sip of the colored liquid in his glass before waving down the bartender. "You ran off and put yourself in danger. Why?"

"Well shoot!" I exclaimed, my eyes now beads. "That's your first question? How do I wrap my head around that story enough to tell it? So many things, just…" I shook my head. "So many things." The Bartender had come to our table.

"What can I get you, Princess?" He said in a rustic voice.

"Do you have… Cola?" I asked.

"No. We've got booze. Cola ain't stocked, water's rationed while the ship's underway. Aside from that I've got weed and medicinal stim shots under the table."

"I'm right here." Matt Horner said, frowning.

"Evenin', Admiral." The Bartender nodded to him.

I gently bit my own tongue in curiosity. "I guess I'll try a stim shot—"

"No." Horner cut me off.

I frowned at him. "What's your problem, man?"

"You've done enough irresponsible things this week, Saraslha."

"Fine…" I rolled my eyes exasperatedly. "I'll just have what he's having." I indicated Horner's glass. "Is that going to be a problem too?"

"Nope." Horner immediately calmed, adopting a friendly demeanor.

The Bartender took out a sleek biometric scanner and held it out to me. "You're new here, so I'll need to register your credit account."

"Of course, my good man." I raised my right hand and entered an account number and password. After one second there was an electronic message. _"Account identified."_

"That'll work." The Bartender said. "I'll have your drink up in a second." He walked away.

"So…" Admiral Horner peered at me over the table, his mood relaxed. "The code red-worthy Zerg outbreak on Tarsonis proved to be a big nothing burger. When the report came in of organized patterns, intel assumed it had to be a surviving hybrid, or rogue broodmother from your mother's fold."

Something came to mind, and I snickered. "There's also a cerebrate on the loose, might want to keep your eyes open for it."

"Yes…" he frowned. "Ambassador Izsha informed us of those events not long after they happened. How you let something that dangerous escape…" He swirled his drink absently.

"He probably won't bug the Dominion, but if he does then you definitely want to be careful; Vaus is one tough bastard. Crafty too." The bartender set a glass in front of me and filled it. Eager to know what it tasted like, I took a sip. It was oddly sweet, like cola but without the fizz.

"Our protocol remains the same as for any rogue swarm controller: Overwhelming force, dispatched immediately and with extreme prejudice."

"That's good to hear." I said, raising my glass in a toasting gesture. "The Swarm hates rogue elements just as much as you do. Any Zerg that doesn't submit herself to a higher authority is lower than an animal."

"Does this not accurately describe the cerebrate you let go?"

"Nah," I waved it off, "He's totes devoted to God. Wouldn't raise a tusk to hurt another life form unless he thought she wanted it." I absently rubbed my own temple. "That's why I said he probably won't bug the Dominion. He's on a journey of self-discovery right now, the Swarm equivalent of a wandering monk."

"Saraslha," Horner said, knitting his hands on the table past his glass. "You're… not just going to get off the hook. There's going to be an investigation on what you've been up to, and if it's anything illegal then there will be consequences. Diplomatic immunity will not help you."

"I don't think I've done anything illegal…" I slouched, looking upward as I pondered this.

"Tarsonis was a warzone." Horner was grimacing now. "Nova reported everything to us."

"She doesn't know everything."

"She knows about your private war."

"Then you know I was defending myself." I waved it off.

"I know that you put Dominion citizens in danger to satisfy your adolescent revenge streak." He shook his head. "This could all have been avoided."

"Well, when you put it like that…" I looked off, sagging a bit.

"Once the investigation has concluded, there's going to be a trial."

"How much have you learned… about Niadra?" I lifted my glass and took a sip of my strangely sweet booze.

"Niadra?"

"The Hybrid. You know, GenTek's big specimen."

"I don't know anything about a hybrid. We hunted down all the stragglers we could find after the End War. The Daelaam do the same in their own territory. Even the Tal'Darim, Umojans and Kel'Morians are hostile toward them.

"Well GenTek had one. They found it aboard a derelict Protoss ship."

"You'll forgive me if I find that hard to believe."

This was exactly where I wanted Admiral Horner. The upcoming investigation and trial took me by surprise, but it was also an opportunity; Kuraski was just as deeply involved in this spat, and netting him into the case would undermine him significantly at little cost to me. "If I produce proof, then could your investigators acquire a search warrant on GenTek?"

"Yes." He said simply. "But not if it's acquired illegally. We're not going to be pawns in your private war."

I laughed a little. "You're a pawn like it or not, Horner. Your government's investigators too."

Horner had a sour frown, shaking his head. "In what regard to you hold me, Saraslha? Hold Humanity?"

"High enough to tell you the truth." I stood up holding my glass of liquor, and gulped the contents down in a single motion. It tasted nice, and I held the glass out. "Human liquor tastes surprisingly similar to grape juice."

"That's because it is grape juice." He held up his own glass, a renewed smirk on his face. "You said you wanted what I was having."

I frowned at this. "This is a cantina, and you're having grape juice of all things."

"Did you really think I'd let you drink?" He said through subdued laughter. "You're… what, four years old?"

"Five, as of last month." I set my empty glass face down. "Where are we landing?

"Korhal, of course. You'll be shuttled straight to the Palace." Horner's hands were knit.

"Do you mind telling your pilot to drop me at the drydocks? I'll take a tram to the Palace after."

He sighed, exasperated. "Is this another one of your games?"

"No, it's work. There's somebody at the drydocks I need to talk to.

"You're a foreign royal, and security there is nowhere near adequate-"

I shrugged as he made his point. "Rindell will meet me there."

Horner held up a hand. "One condition: I'm having one of my own people meet you there. He'll have his eye on you, and ensure you don't run off again."

I nodded. "That is more than fair. I realize this is inconvenient, and appreciate your accommodation."

"Valerian would chew me out if you slipped away again."

"No, I totally understand your situation. Do what you must, Admiral."

"Well, she actually can act like a princess if she chooses." Horner said as he slouched back relaxedly. "We'll come out of Warp Space in about fifteen minutes. I'll be on the bridge by then, and you can head for your shuttle."

"Which hangar?"

"Number Two."

* * *

The video presentation displayed before Kuraski on his computer screen had provoked a sense of morbid fascination, followed by genuine wonderment. "This experiment was done by our… distant associates, yes?"

"That's right." Karla said, standing behind him in his office. "We just picked up the data packet at the designated dead drop."

The experiment was done on a captive Zergling. It had been drained of its blood and then skinned through precise incisions in a controlled environment. After this, all of its organs were extracted intact, and its major muscle and tendon groups separated in a similar way until there was the skeleton, and everything else laid out on a clean sheet of steel whose temperature was strictly regulated.

Once the creature was in literal pieces, it was put back together. Its muscles, organs, and outer flesh re-bonded together in precisely the arrangement they'd been. Lastly, its blood was cycled back into its system. The dead Zergling was put back together until it was once again indistinguishable from an alive newborn.

And it started moving again, on its own; its blood flowed. Within hours after being released, its strength returned to it as the surgical scars littering its body healed and dissipated. If not for its tag, and minor cosmetics of its horn placement and tooth arrangement, it would be impossible to distinguish from other zerglings in the same pen.

"What's your opinion, Karla?" He said after skimming through it again.

"Bullets and bombs would destroy the organs and wreck the skeleton, making a revival like this infeasible in battle. It's not as scary if you think of it that way."

"Those are the military implications, yes. Though I was thinking…" He beamed with Joy. "The Zerg are amazing creatures; their potential as limitless as ours."

"Also… the hybrid specimen might be salvageable."

He nodded calmly, still staring at the screen. "The only real damage to her was a separation along the neck. Her body has not decomposed in the slightest."

"Welp…" Karla's arms crossed, looking off. "If we're gonna save our dangerous friend from the sleep of death, we'll need our containment unit back."

"It's still at the Mesa, which is still a crime scene. The containment unit is evidence."

"So we can wait to get it back, or we can build a new one… without Doctor Marchen."

This would be a challenge. The entire process of constructing the previous unit had been recorded, nonetheless recreating it would require somebody who could comprehend the process and not leave anything out. Somebody with an eye for detail, who didn't make mistakes. "I'll have to oversee it myself." Kuraski said, standing up from his seat. "Doctor Lithuen is experienced with the Specimen and can handle repairing her."

Karla nodded in concurrence. "And I'll be watching the Zerg girl like a hawk. We can't underestimate her again. Security has been tightened at every property, and the R&D department will have the anti-Spectre upgrade for our detection modules ready within the week."

"Good… good." He remained standing and staring off, a half-ground between walking away from his desk and remaining as he spaced out for several seconds; a deprivation of sleep which had begun to show itself. The mood slowed.

Karla thought of saying a dozen different things in reply to this, but kept them all held back.

His face pulled itself back into its focused, disciplined state. "Karla, If I said, if I… contended, that an understanding of the world beyond what ordinary people had, gave one responsibility beyond what an ordinary person would be held to, would you concur?"

"It's a difficult question, David."

"My answer to it is yes." His head shook. "Humanity can't even stop fighting amongst itself. How long before we're fighting the Zerg Swarm again? Ten years? Twenty? It may as well be now, when their ruler is new to her role and we have a powerful ally."

"I'm one hundred percent behind your cause, sir."

"Even though your father is dead because of me?" His face turned, making eye contact with her.

She was unperturbed by this suddenly personal subject. "That was years ago, and an accident."

"He died, while I was spared." He said this clinically, with little emotional charge. "It was pure chance, and pure chance could have reversed that outcome."

"If you had denied responsibility; deflected blame and washed your hands of the incident, then I would have hated you for the rest of my life." Her head shook. "But that's not you, David. You take ownership of your actions, and are happy to explain the 'why' and 'how' of it with diligence. I can say that you're lucky, and that you're an extremist without any worry of triggering an emotional reaction, because you know it's true and already accept it. Not only do I not blame you and feel there's no wrong to forgive in the first place, but you're the guy I want to work for. Even Saraslha thinks you're cool. I saw your conversation."

His face had turned away, staring ahead. "I believe… there's quite a lot of work ahead of us, isn't there?"

She nodded, and headed past his desk toward the downward staircase out of his office space. No words were necessary, and a subtle, alive expression was in her eyes.

* * *

When the Civilian Pilot was assigned the delivery to Hotel Marianne, he couldn't help but feel uneasy by the content of that delivery. What he flew was a cargo shuttle, not near as nimble as a military dropship but with a higher load capacity; the aerospace equivalent of a barge.

The gleaming tower of Hotel Marianne on Augustgrad's top plate had a landing platform outside the penthouse surrounded by concealing walls. This platform was only half the size the barge needed to fully land.

The walls came down on one side, and the distant silhouette of a human beckoned the Civilian Pilot to come in. With care, he maneuvered the shuttle in hover mode to carefully set its front feet on the landing platform. With this, he set it to a hovering idle, unbuckled his seatbelt and headed down via an exterior ladder, a datapad in hand.

A single person greeted him on the landing pad; a towering woman with a flowing mane of blonde hair, wearing a black pantsuit. The Civilian Pilot looked up at her face, offering the datapad. "I need you to sign for the delivery."

"Very well." The woman spoke with a gravel pitch slipping out of an otherwise trained voice. She took the pad, signed and handed it back.

The Civilian Pilot looked at the pad. _Lednir_ was the name signed on it. "Alright then, I'll just lower the ramp and set 'em loose?"

Lednir indicated the glass doors into the penthouse, which were chocked open. "Yes, bring them all inside."

The Civilian Pilot flipped a switch on his arm brace, and the front ramp of the semi-hovering barge lowered. Out of the dark hold came a tightly packed herd of cows. The noisy, sizable four-legged animals came down the ramp across the landing pad, heading for the interior of the penthouse. There were at least 40 heads which came out of the hold, some mooing and snorting as they headed inside.

"What, ah… what are you planning to do with cattle in a penthouse?" The Civilian Pilot was scratching behind his neck, unsettled by the scenario before him. "I ain't never delivered somethin' like this to a rich folks' home."

"A bloody fate awaits these creatures." The towering woman said solemnly. "I must raise a small force of fighters, and this biomass will prove adequate."

This woman had to be crazy. As The Civilian Pilot peeked his gaze inside the penthouse, he noticed what was keeping the doors open: Dolls, standing on their own with their hands propped on the glass. He backed away slowly. "I'm… I'm just goin' to take off now."

"Yes, you may leave."

* * *

 **Saraslha**

As I stood in yet another dropship hold, I had an audio call running on my tablet. "Look, Keid, when I asked you to handle things while I'm out I meant it. You don't have to check with me for every little thing."

" _I would offer the argument that the Fusion Core contract is not a little thing but a big thing. We won the battle, but life marches on and there's work to be done."_

"Are you at my desk?"

" _Standing next to it."_

"Okay, there should be a green folder in the bottom left-hand drawer. That's everything related to the project. Read through it, and do my job in addition to yours. Delegate if you have to. All I ask is you keep things within budget."

I heard the sound of him opening the drawer and finding the folder. _"I'm hiring an accountant."_

"Whoa! Hey." I raised a hand in the privacy of the Dropship's hold. "Let's not get crazy, now. We don't need an accountant. Just have a digital log of everything. The computer will keep the books."

" _You just don't want somebody advising you against spending money like a madwoman."_

That was exactly my misgiving. Real humans had an autonomy; a capacity to notice anomalies that a computer or Zerg strain lacked; I could see the merit in hiring a human to do the accounting. But nevertheless… "No accountant, and that's final."

The sound of him skimming through the documents. _"Either you say yes, or I do it behind your back anyway."_

"Are you…" My eyes winced with disbelief. "Hustling me?"

" _I'm protecting you from yourself. If LBP gets a tax audit with its financial records looking like this, my insubordination will be the least of your worries."_

Now I had a determined frown. "You straight-up admit to disobeying me."

" _When you left me in charge, you told me to get things done and ignore the fluff. That's what I'm doing."_

I gripped my tablet, holding it out in a straight line from my mouth. "New commands override older ones. Have you never played a war match before?"

" _I was a nameless Marine in a couple of wars, if that counts."_

"Then follow, your, freaking orders!" My face was a snarl. "No accountant."

" _No."_

I screamed through clenched teeth. "I'm gonna have Tosh beat the crap out of you."

" _No you're not."_

"Uh huh…" My left eye twitched. "And what makes you so sure?"

" _Because deep down you know I'm right. Deep down, you want me to fight you on this."_

My built-up tension immediately escaped me. What he said was absolutely true; autonomy and free will were human strengths that I wanted to learn to make use of. The ability to delegate responsibilities was part of that. But my pride… oh, my abrasive pride. "You're a sucky jerk, you know that, Keid?" Even in something as petty as this, I couldn't stand not winning.

" _I guarantee you the reactor contract will be completed on time. Rest easy."_ He hung up.

My now silent tablet lay in my hand, alone with me in the dark dropship hold. A gentle smile, of the sort that could only exist in privacy, made its way to my face.

I felt the dropship slow down as it approached its destination and came in for a landing. I had no pockets, and Rindell wasn't with me so my tablet would remain in my hand for the long term. _"Approaching Augustgrad Northern drydocks."_ Said the pilot over the hold's intercom. _"ETA ten seconds."_

The ship settled down as it exerted pressure on its hydraulic landing gear, the hold door opened to let outside light spill inside. When I walked down the boarding ramp and onto the metallic floor of an outdoor platform of the Drydocks, the hold door was already closing as the dropship's engines throttled to lift off.

The Drydocks were massive; a veritable skyline of steel whose depth could not be perceived from the outer platforms. The hammerhead shape of a docked Minotaur Battlecruiser was immediately visible right beneath me. While the Minotaur class was relatively small for a capital ship and designed with production volume in mind, it still made me feel very small.

Korhal wasn't the largest producer of starships in the Dominion, but it still had a sizable defense fleet comprised of ships that had to be periodically serviced. Thus the drydocks.

As I walked along the catwalks coming to a broader intersection, I spotted the person Horner mentioned; the person he said would keep an eye on me. When I saw who it was, my anger boiled immediately to the surface and I wanted to scream, so I did.

"No!" My foot stomped on the perforated metal floor. "Dear God no!" I turned away from him, seething.

"Princess, hates, Dehaka." Dehaka said quizzically, standing as his annoying blue self in front of me. "This resentment… warranted?"

"She must be out to get me..." I peered up at the heavens, pinching my brow. "Why? What'd I ever do to Her?"

"My, ship. Repaired here." Dehaka said, oblivious to my outburst. "Was in, vicinity. Convenient…" An inhaling growl. "For Horner."

"Okay, ground rules." I faced him again, a dour look on my face as my finger aimed at him imperiously. "You'll keep your hands to yourself, your teeth to yourself, and that wiggly tail to yourself. I don't want you touching me with any of them. Alright?" I walked past him as I spoke.

Dehaka crooked his head slightly. "This job, bullshit. Not, paid, enough…" He followed.

* * *

Broodmother Rindell had a heyday with the cattle delivered to Saraslha's penthouse. They were farm animals, bred and raised for the purpose of becoming food for humans. The only difference in Rindell's use of them was that almost no biomass was wasted. Its flavor to her senses was strictly tied to its usefulness, and every part of the animal was a varying degree of useful. Her original body was present at the penthouse, and it was able to reproduce efficiently and succinctly after she reverted to it.

Hydralisks and Cryolisks were emphasized, out of Rindell's assessment of the likelihood of an attack from the air or from long range, as well as their efficacy when holding onto a stationary position, which would be the likely combat scenario when protecting her cherished princess.

A new transport barge, this one owned by LBP had arrived and settled its front half on the landing pad. That the organization's leader was actually a Zerg had quickly become an open secret, and the pilot of the barge was perfectly aware of what he was picking up. To him it was just another day at his job.

* * *

It wasn't long before Mira Han learned that Nova's bluff was just that: a bluff. Her private scream of frustration was accompanied by the realization that it was far too late to kill her target. Even of she went back to Tarsonis with reinforcements, her rag-tag, undisciplined mercenaries couldn't possibly challenge the Dominion's Core Fleet. Saraslha was safe, and Mira wouldn't see a penny from GenTek.

In the physical setting of her asteroid field headquarters, Mira was in a private room, scrunched down in depression with a steaming mug of coffee, wearing a blanket over her shoulders and watching re-runs of her favorite TV show. It had been a bad year for her organization, and their recent failed job was rock-bottom. They still had tons of ships and munitions by mercenary army standards, but morale was in the crapper.

Somberly, dispassionately, she took another sip of coffee just as somebody knocked on the door outside. "Whaat." She said in a lazy, elongated tone.

" _Hey, sorry to bug you, Boss. But we wanted to let you know the Flutter made it back to base. It's banged up real bad, but that's three ships made it. And, uh…"_ Nervously, the man outside continued. _"Wildshot crashed on Tarsonis, and we're putting together a search 'n rescue party for survivors, soon as the Core Fleet bugs out. Who do you…"_

"Manderlyy." She said in the same lazy, elongated tone, still depressed and sagged with a blanket and coffee.

" _Uh… Manderly?"_

"Yes, give the job to Manderly. Now if there's nothing else, I'm occupied with important things." She took another sip of coffee, watching the television.

" _We… um, we ain't really seen you much lately, Boss. You doin' alright?"_

"I'm just perfect!" She burst out, turning her head to the door. "Now piss off!"

" _There's a video call for you, in the briefing room."_

"It can wait." She turned to the TV again, affixing her eyes to it.

" _It's, um… it's your husband."_

She elated slightly at this, but it only pushed upward against the overwhelming weight of her depressed mindset. "Really?" She set her coffee down, standing up as she pulled the blanket tighter around herself. "Matthew is waiting for me?" She walked toward the door, still with a hunched posture.

" _He sounded pissed."_

"Oh, his hair only needs combing when it's frazzled." She hit a button that opened the door.

The merc saw her hunched down, with messy hair and pajamas. She walked past him obliviously and he stepped out of the way. "You… you look…"

"I'll still kick the shit out of you." Her voice was focused now, low and venomous as she shot a look back at him. "Go give Manderly his assignment."

"Y-you got it." He replied, saluting and heading briskly in the opposite direction of the corridor.

"Oh, Matthew, I get to speak to you…" As she shuffled through the quiet corridor, still wearing the blanket and pajamas, the gentle smile on her mouth and possessive look in her eye radiated joy. It wasn't close to counterbalancing the lousy day she was having, but it was something.

* * *

Saraslha reached the area of the Drydocks she wanted: A giant open floor under a sweeping steel canopy. It was a mechanic's dreamland, filled with machining tools, crates filled with materials, and SCVs vacant and in motion. It was in this area she found the person she was looking for: Rory Swann.

The stocky, bearded man was walking beside a Protoss of eerily similar height and physique, whose gadget-laden robes and machine gauntlet denoted an eerily similar occupation. They hadn't yet noticed Saraslha and Dehaka approaching. Swann was in the midst of speaking, "that's why we're a huge distance behind you on that tech too. The Defense Matrix can take a beating for sure, but it ain't stable, it ain't sustainable, and-" He huffed in a bit of laughter. "It certainly ain't form-fitting. Seriously, at that point you guys are just showing off."

The Protoss spoke; a male voice that always found a way to give off a positive inflection. _"I estimate another seven hundred years before you're producing shields that consume zero energy in their idle state."_ He looked toward Swann walking next to him. _"I could explain how it works, though the answer would enter your mind as incomprehensible gibberish, rather than coherent language."_

"Yeah yeah, I get it. It don't translate." Swann waved it off with his clamp hand. "Humanity don't need handouts anyway, 'specially not the knowledge kind."

" _I do enjoy studying the practical solutions adopted by Terrans. Often it is something I would not have considered from a position of broader knowledge and experience."_

Both men stopped next to a railing overseeing the drydocks below. "So we're like rats in a maze to you?"

" _It's more like an adult watching a youngling take its first steps, awkwardly, with apprehension over whether your face hits the floor."_

Swann laughed at this. "We do like blowin' each other up a lot. Korhal used to be green and pretty, you know."

Saraslha was right behind them, and was waiting for a chance to interject. She inhaled heartily, and prepared to bellow at the top of her lungs.

" _Indeed,"_ The Protoss said, _"That was an especially insane act done by your kind, enough so that I read about it in—"_

"LOVELY WEATHER TODAY, AIN'T IT GENTS?"

Swann jumped, letting out a deep yelping sound as he jerked his facing around to see. The Protoss turned calmly. Saraslha continued once she had their attention. "What's your name, Firstborn?" She said to the Protoss, "And what'cha doin' on Korhal?"

" _I am Phase Smith Karax, your Highness."_ He nodded courteously while indicating himself. _"I came here as part of the Hierarch's entourage."_

Saraslha's expression shifted immediately from beady-eyed curiosity to beady-eyed horror. "T-the Hierarch is here? Like, the Daelaam Hierarch?" Her shoulders sank.

" _Indeed,"_ Karax said. _"He's at the palace right now."_

Dehaka hissed from his spot beside Saraslha. "Protoss, trouble. Dislike, Protoss." His head rattled. "Filthy creatures."

Karax replied with a warm, cheerful tone. _"Is that so? I actually feel the exact same way about your kind. What are the odds?"_ His eyes and brow conveyed something close to a detached smile.

"I don't like Protoss either." Saraslha announced.

" _Well that is perfectly understandable."_ Karax nodded toward her. _"We do pose a major threat to the Swarm."_

"N-no, that's not why." Saraslha pouted a bit, looking away. "You're just… uncool. You're losers, and nobody likes you."

" _All you've managed to convey is a subjective distaste, young Saraslha."_ Karax said, unaffected. _"I'm afraid that isn't the kind of rhetoric that would sway me. Now…"_ He turned and walked away _. "If you'll please excuse me."_

"That's right!" Saraslha was scowling toward Karax's back. "You'd better walk away, 'fore I mess you up." Her chin stiffened, and she wiped her nose. "Sucky Protoss."

"Yes, sucky." Dehaka said, his armored head doing something close to a nod. "Protoss, sucky beings."

"They get under my skin!" Saraslha said when Karax was out of earshot.

"Protoss, annoying. Princess, aligned…" An inhaling growl. "With this view."

"Yeah, he's our enemy now, Dehaka."

"You… uh, you gonna be alright there, Frilly?" Rory Swann said, looking at her with a puzzled frown. "It sounds like the Protoss really ruffle your feathers. They do somethin' to you in the past?"

"What? No." She shook her head, climbing out of her emotional state by concentrating into a clinical, intellectual mindset. "Swann, I need to buy a few things from you, through the account you said you opened."

One of Swann's eyebrows quirked. "Why would you go out of your way to get stuff from me?"

"It has to look like I'm trying to hide the purchase. Right now my account with your armory has none of my fingerprints on it."

"Okay…" he nodded slowly. "Is this gonna rope me into somethin' shady? 'Cuz I'm not the type for that."

"Not in a dangerous way. Worst case scenario is someone knocks on your door to ask a few questions."

He yawned at this. "They gonna kick it down if I can't be arsed? I'm either drinkin' or sleepin' off the clock."

"Naw, nothing like that."

"Alright then." He was nodding. "A customer's a customer. What'd you need?"

"Eight nuclear charges."

Where an ordinary man would be unsettled by this request, Swann simply took out a flask of booze and had a casual sip. "Sure, where do you need 'em?"

Saraslha's hands clasped behind her back. "I bought a very cheap, undeveloped plot of land on Mar Sara, miles from any civilization under the name 'Haelstrom.' Drop them there and leave them."

"You got it." He gestured with his flask. "After deduction of your existing credit with us, it'll cost another hundred twenty thousand. That alright?"

"That's reasonable." She nodded.

As they spoke, a heavy transport barge approached the drydocks, coming down to a designated landing pad of the work floor. Saraslha sensed its occupants, and welcomed them.

"Smell, Zerg warriors, that vessel." The non-psychic Dehaka was alarmed by it, and stepped immediately in front of Saraslha as his hand pushed her back. "Be ready…" He growled. "To flee."

Saraslha's attention was fixated entirely on Dehaka's one hand, touching her in one spot, with only enough force to constitute a gentle shove. Her left eye twitched as her face contorted…

She kept it together, not saying anything or responding physically. "The Zerg on that ship are mine, Dehaka."

He calmed at this as his posture relaxed. The Barge's ramp lowered, and Rindell came down with a sizable number of combat strains.

"Well come on then." Saraslha turned, looking back at Dehaka. "My business here is concluded. You can take me to the palace."

* * *

The Protoss speaking with Emperor Valerian struck an imposing figure with a broad frame inlaid with shining golden armor and an equally ornate helmet. The only discoloration of his appearance was the armbrace on his right forearm, which was a subtle brown contrasted against the glimmering yellow. His name was Artanis, the leader of the Daelaam.

" _The first anomaly of this newly charted world was its gravity; disproportionately strong for its mass."_ Artanis was speaking. _"At first we assumed it was abnormally dense, but a closer scan quickly disproved that."_

"I doubt it was high gravity that kept your survey team from reporting back." Valerian said. "Or anything, really. Your FTL communications are certainly even better than ours."

" _That is why it is such a mystery."_ Artanis said. _"Among their final reports to reach us, our survey team discovered the remains of hundreds of dead Hybrid."_

Valerian frowned at this. He was seated at the conference table. Artanis was on his feet, pacing, walking one direction and then another. "Could there have been surviving Hybrid, and they're the reason you lost contact?"

" _I considered that as well."_ Artanis nodded lightly. _"But it would require significant military power to defeat that many hybrid at once. A force that large is unlikely to have eliminated most of them, and then lost to a handful of survivors."_

"I can attest that it wasn't the Dominion. And if it wasn't you…"

" _Precisely. The most likely remaining actor is Zagara. I've been told that you're in contact with her."_

"Indeed we are, Hierarch, though her time is valuable. We mostly speak to her ambassador, Izsha."

" _As much as I resent the Swarm, I will make an inquiry to Zagara when the chance presents itself."_

"They've been very accommodating." Valerian said. "You'd be surprised."

Artanis had stopped pacing, and he almost seemed to visibly shake his head. _"Your diplomatic efforts are known to me, and I must commend your optimism, young emperor. But the Swarm is not to be trusted. Their savage nature is inescapable, and will inevitably shape their actions."_

Valerian had a relaxed tone and posture. "That all accurately describes human history. Your peoples' history as well."

" _That is a false equivalence."_ Artanis said firmly. _"Beings who reflect on their actions, however destructive, are worlds apart from beings who do not. Do not put yourself, or my people on their level."_

"The Swarm is fully answerable to its leader, and is precisely as capable of good or evil as that leader."

" _Absolute power can never give birth to nobility, nor do the noble of heart long for such a thing."_ Artanis calmly countered, accepting the debate.

"But what if nobility is chosen anyway? By the free-willed being who holds that absolute power?"

Artanis' telepathic voice had a rare tone of low seriousness. _"I will believe such a thing when I witness it. That said, if I could do so at no risk to my people, I would annihilate the Swarm entirely."_

"I'm afraid I cannot second you on that." Valerian's voice was serious as well. "Zagara has shown no aggression toward us as a ruler. Unless she does, I refuse to be an aggressor."

" _And what if her target is my people, and she lets you be?"_ His face turned a bit, making eye contact. _"Would that constitute aggression in your view?"_

"If Zagara attacked the Daelaam it would not be tolerated. The Dominion would declare war and mobilize immediately."

" _Even if you have the option to remain neutral? Bar a few exceptions, my experience with Terrans is that they will only fight if it's in their self-interest."_

"It's the wars fought for ideology and principle that become the most brutal and destructive." Valerian spoke while appearing relaxed. "Materialist war might appear pointless in your view, but in reality it causes Humanity to minimize damage, accept the surrender of enemy armies, and gives us an easy compulsion to end the conflict when the time is right." He had an intent look as he continued speaking. "Your peoples' Aeon of Strife could have ended in far less than an aeon, if the argument that it wasted resources had any merit in your culture."

" _That's a Terran way to think, and I don't agree with it. Nevertheless…"_ He blinked slowly. _"It's one way to think among countless yet unexplored by the Firstborn. I will give it due consideration."_

"I appreciate your open-mindedness, Hierarch."

" _However, the question remains: What Terran manner of thinking will prevent you turning a blind eye, if my people were to fight Zagara alone?"_

Valerian stood, unconsciously pulling his glove tighter onto his hand. "If Zagara shows herself to be an aggressor in principle, a few months' peace from her is not worth turning our back on an ally." He met Artanis' gaze. "Zagara doesn't fight either of us, because she knows she can't win against both of us at once. It's not an ideal, or virtue that would keep us stabbing you in the back, but pragmatism, plain and simple."

Valerian knew Artanis to be a negotiator at heart; the man who kept the disparate factions and cultures comprising the Daelaam unified and working toward the same goals. He was the type to embrace allies wherever they could be found, and try to see things from the other person's point of view. _"It… would be the ultimate selfishness to tell another nation what values they should hold in their heart. Where the Swarm is concerned, my suspicion toward you is… unwarranted."_ He looked off now, toward the broad staircase leading to an outdoor terrace. _"Your people paid dearly to hold the Golden Armada at bay, while I searched for a way to save them from Amon's control. And you fought by our side in the final battle. Our interests were aligned then, as they are now in regard to Zagara."_ He turned around, facing Valerian as he raised a gauntlet in a gesture. _"Should the Overqueen invade Dominion Space, the Golden Armada will come for her birthing worlds, and there will be no mercy. This, I promise."_

Valerian nodded at this. Artanis was referencing contingency plans made some time ago; a strategy predicated on the understanding that a purely defensive war against the Zerg would be unwinnable. "And if you're her first target, we'll fortify as many neutral systems as possible between you and her, and conceal your invasion fleet as it moves through our territory, getting in position to take her least-defended worlds. The Dominion remains the arm we allow the wolf to bite, and your fleets are the knife rammed up into its throat."

" _And if we're both attacked simultaneously…"_

The Emperor peered downward, frowning. "We pray that the Swarm is spread too thin."

The projector on the table turned on, Izsha was taking her insulator off as she spoke. _"Broodmother Zagara is on the line. She wishes to speak to her daughter."_

"She'll be here in fifteen minutes." Valerian said. "There was a slight detour, of her own choosing."

" _Very well. I shall call back in fifteen minutes."_ The projection vanished.

" _The Overqueen's daughter…"_ Artanis mused. _"I've heard of her."_

"It'd be surprising if you didn't."

Artanis had returned to his normal demeanor of seriousness in combination with civility. He'd walked up to one of the conference chairs, and absentmindedly picked it up with one hand, gripped on the armrest and easily turning it over as he examined it. Its set of wheels rose in front of his face. _"You met her in person. What is she like?"_

"Childish, snide, stress-inducing, and too clever for her own good." Valerian watched the Protoss' eyes sweep over the piece of furniture. "She's one of the reasons I've hope of Zagara being a rational actor. Saraslha is not powerful in any physical or psionic capacity, and yet if something happens to Zagara, she rules the Swarm."

" _In the Swarm's culture, would this status not make her a target? How is she still alive if she isn't strong?"_ He set the chair back down.

He just shrugged at this. "you'll have to ask her yourself."

" _What is her view of the Firstborn?"_

When Saraslha spoke to the two Daelaam dignitaries a week ago, he'd watched her closely. Valerian prided himself his ability to read people through their subtle body language and choice of words. "She's afraid of you, but disguises that fear with ridicule and acting tough."

If a Protoss could display an amused expression, Artanis did so. _"She sounds like a youngling; a child."_

A genuine laugh slipped out of Valerian's serious disposition.

" _I'm quite serious. Childish behavior merits meditation and discipline, as far from positions of leadership as possible."_

Valerian's laugh only intensified. "I'm imagining a bunch of Protoss, trying to make Saraslha meditate, or do one thing for more than a half hour. That might be why she's afraid of you; she'd flee in terror from that."

" _I comprehend your humor."_ Artanis said plainly. _"However I lack context. Once she has seen her mother, I will speak to this girl."_

"Yes... that would be best."

* * *

 **This chapter was rather tame; not much happened. That's because it's mostly setup and transition for events to follow.**

 **Updates are seldom and far between, and I do apologize for that. Nevertheless I appreciate all of your readership. Have a wonderful day!**


	17. Diffusion

**The Past**

Word had reached Abathur of the successful acquisition of Sephulli by the Overqueen's daughter. Saraslha had returned to Char immediately following this, and it wasn't long before she came down into the bowels of Zagara's Primary Cluster to bug him.

" _Occupied with work. Do not hinder."_ He said in an emotional monotone as he turned to face the humanoid Zerg of average strength and psionic power. He said this every time she came down to his cavernous evolution chamber, but it never seemed to make her leave.

She grinned, showing her sharp, carnivorous teeth. An outward expression of joy. Multiple causes possible. Would not speculate. "Have a look at this bad boy, Abathur my spidery friend." She tossed a larva his way.

He caught it in one of his many hands. It felt like an ordinary larva.

"Its transformation's ready to go. Just needs some minerals and gas."

Understood. Abathur dropped it on the floor, and ordered the arteries just underneath the floor to come up and connect. With this infusion of decomposed minerals and condensed Vespene, the larva morphed rapidly into an egg. Normal procedure. No mention of what it was programmed to hatch. Mystery; would know soon enough. Would not speak to Saraslha more than necessary. Appease, and hope she leaves.

The egg hatched, out of it came a large tortoise-like creature, the peak of whose shell was slightly taller than Abathur himself. It walked out of the way, and pivoted to face them again. _"New strain; based heavily on giant seafloor walker, size scaled down, Swarm features added… Purpose?"_

"This is the Pyrolisk, and it's one deadly son of a—"

" _Giant seafloor walker: essence unremarkable. Kept for minutia purposes. Strain appears cumbersome and easily killed—"_

"I wasn't finished, Abathur." She was frowning now, outward signal denoting displeasure; irrelevant. Saraslha had no power. Saraslha was nuisance. "Pyrolisk, show him your stuff." Talking vocally to strains was theatrical; pointless. It responded to the telepathic signal she sent it.

The Pyrolisk made an animalistic bark in response. Abathur saw a turret emerge from raising its top plate, which had a panoramic circumference of pores. New feature; arterial construct meant for moving fluids. A liquid attack..?

All but one of the pores contracted shut, and out of the remaining open one shot a heavy blob of liquid, which flew past Abathur to the open floor of the Evolution Chamber behind him. It splashed and spread. Strong odor from liquid; overall derisory effect on biological flooring. Liquid displayed no acidic properties, would assume harmless.

And then, for the first time in a long time, Abathur felt fear; fear for his own life when the liquid erupted into a blinding blue flame. He felt the heat from mere proximity blow over him as he plucked his own body out of its nestled spot in morbid shock. Squealing from fear hormones circulating through him, Abathur bolted for a nearby dark wall on his spidery arrangement of legs, climbing halfway up while leering back at Saraslha and the Pyrolisk. If that liquid had been fired at him directly, he could have been killed. He had been at Saraslha's mercy, and wasn't even aware of that fact. The flame burned out quickly, leaving a black crater of cooked biomass that would take time to reconstitute.

"So, umm…" She had an elevated voice on account of the distance between them. Her eyes squinted, trying to spot him in the minimally illuminated wall. "I wanted to show this fella to you. Get your opinion, you know?"

Abathur's fear hormones subsided, and his mind shifted back into a rational state; ticking, turning over in its cold, logical clockwork. Nothing in all of the essence he'd ever gone over suggested to him that a weapon such as that was feasible.

Abathur's gaze went from the smoldering pit to Saraslha, who was peering innocently in his general direction. Zagara's creation of this humanoid creature had always felt counterproductive in his view. A potential successor should have been as powerful as possible, with all of the most formidable essence obtainable, then birthed in large quantity to compete with one another. When it became apparent Saraslha had no special powers, he'd dismissed her and focused on the real work of improving the Swarm. But now… _"Am… intrigued."_ He came down from the wall, walking up to her. _"Wish to dissect Pyrolisk, analyze, refine design and optimize."_ The existence of chemical napalm placed the rest of the Pyrolisk's design in context.

Saraslha smiled, her eyes beaming. Expression of pleasure; excitement. Cordial to his intentions, security from her violent wrath—Abathur was internally puzzled at having that last thought. "That's exactly what I was hoping. Work your magic, Abathur."

" _You work with me. Pyrolisk displays potential, but is amateur work. Saraslha must learn."_ Callously, he flicked an outstretched blade hand, lopping the Pyrolisk's head off and killing it. He proceeded to make more surgical cuts on it as two blades laced with acid slowly worked their way down the shell to open it. _"Explosion imminent. Flammable liquid must be drained."_

She clapped her hands together, rubbing them. "Alrighty then, let's do this." She climbed atop a limp leg, and then hopped atop the shell's top turret plate, standing on one leg to exert pressure. This caused its napalm reserve to shoot out of its amputated neck in a jet as the turret plate sank into the shell. The liquid flowed downhill before burning on the floor 5 meters away, creating another, deeper black crater.

" _Giant seafloor walker; mass immense. Pyrolisk reduction in scale enables walking on land; change proper."_

"Yeah, the source creature was so huge it walked on the bottom with the peak of its shell making a little island above sea level. The top turret was originally for breathing air." With her task of draining the napalm finished, she hopped off the shell, and paced around Abathur, observing his cut. "Adding the Swarm's superior bone, tendons and muscle phases out the dry land issue entirely, though."

Abathur's cuts finished, and he began prying the shell in half. The shell was its ribcage, and the interior would be all soft organs and arteries. _"Leaves option open for larger variant. Body already designed to accommodate increased mass. Greater liquid reserve, longer range, thicker armor."_

"Already thinking of a sub-strain, are you?"

" _Yes. Second-phase transformation; requires resources. Infernolisk strain."_

"I'm…" She shot a hand into its soft innards beyond the opened shell, pulling out a long, stringy organ. "Lovin' your enthusiasm, Abathur me old mate. But let's stick to the basic form for now. Get a solid foundation going, you know?" She handed him the organ.

" _Am… in agreement."_ He accepted the long, stringy organ from her. _"This… bladder of some nature. Essence unfamiliar."_

"It's the gland that synthesizes and stores its napalm. That sucker keeps the liquid from exploding- while its alive, at least, and from poisoning the Pyrolisk."

" _Understood. Specification has saved time."_ He handed it back. _"Saraslha will refine its function; optimize, make more efficient. My part will be in muscle structure, bone, instinctive mind. Armored shell is yours to improve along with napalm gland."_

"Okay…" She was frowning nervously. "I probably won't do as good a job as you, on the gland or the shell."

" _Correct. Saraslha is amateur. Must learn."_ He went back to cutting up the dead Pyrolisk. _"This is how she will learn."_

Saraslha smiled at hearing this. Outward expression of joy; cordial to his intentions. Her nerve cords flicked in the tiniest of motions. "I just told mom I'll probably be down here all day."

" _Wise. Evolution chamber is place of purpose. Surface world: overrated."_

* * *

 **The Present**

"That… has got to be… the biggest freakin' turtle I've ever seen." The GenTek operative was scouting from the top of a bluff overlooking an expanse of red-tinted badland on Mar Sara. The giant turtle was several kilometers away, walking along the flat terrain between his position and a large mesa, and was four times the size of your average airplane hangar. He'd been sent to investigate the covert purchase made by the Zerg Princess of eight nuclear charges, which was delivered to this general vicinity.

" _Mar Sara has no indigenous life of that nature."_ Karla Simmons' voice spoke in his earpiece. _"We have to assume it's Zerg, likely an experimental."_

"I refuse to go anywhere near that thing…" The Operative lifted his binoculars again to watch it pass by. "It's like some kind of turtle-dragon. D'you think it breathes fire?"

" _Given the nature of our opponent, I wouldn't be surprised."_

"I located the nukes at least…" he fiddled with a knob on his binoculars. "Steel container's sittin' pretty on top of its shell."

" _Well crap. That complicates things."_

"You definitely don't want to make a move on it without a plan."

" _First we need to know what it's capable of. It could be an armored transport, with a strike force packed inside. Or it really could breathe fire."_

"Suck if it was a combination of both…"

" _I'll have to bring the Glass Raven to this system; it can make a more thorough scan."_

"Didn't your ship take a Drakken round at Tarsonis?"

" _Yes, repairs should take a few more hours, at least."_

"Right then." The operative rose to his feet from a prone position. He turned and headed back to his Vulture bike. "I'll continue to monitor the target's movements, keep your people updated on its location."

" _Thanks, Phillip."_

"It's a job."

* * *

Saraslha, Broodmother Rindell and Dehaka were aboard a private monorail tram moving overhead an urban road of Augustgrad's top plate, in the direction of the Palace. Rindell was only able to fit half the fighters she'd raised, with the rear two-thirds of the cab being stuffed with hydralisks and hunched-over cryolisks.

" _I must express my misgivings…"_ Rindell was talking. _"Toward being in such close proximity to Hierarch Artanis."_

"You think he's a security risk?" Saraslha said.

" _He is a hero of the End War, like the Overqueen. I do not think we could best him in combat, even if he were alone."_

"Dehaka, dislike Protoss." Dehaka interjected. "Would take, your side."

"People, come on." She waved down their concerns, an awkward expression of puzzlement on her face. "He's not going to go crazy in the heart of foreign territory. Nobody's that dumb."

" _If you see him, what do you plan to say?"_

She shrugged. "My honest opinion, of course: That the Daelaam is lame, and my mother could probably kick his ass."

Dehaka spoke up again, "Artanis, beaten up…" An inhaling growl, "By Zagara. Would pay to see."

Dehaka spent a lot of time in the company of human mercenaries. That he'd pick up on some of their terminology and speech patterns was natural. "Ain't that something, Rindell?" Saraslha's hand was on her hip, a bright look on her face as an arm gestured toward Dehaka. "Dehaka knows where it's at with the Protoss."

" _I think the Protoss bring your insecurities to the surface."_

"Oh, come on, Rindell." She rolled her eyes. "You're ruining the mood—"

" _They could bring harm to you, my Princess."_

This cut Saraslha off. Her mouth moved, but didn't produce words. Her eyes narrowed into a distressed wince. "Rindell, I…"

" _They could kill you. They are immensely powerful, and you're treating it like a joke."_ Rindell's tone was slow, part grave seriousness, part pleading. _"I… do not want you to die, Saraslha."_

Saraslha distressed wince intensified. She turned around, facing the front windshield of the tram. Her hands made their way to opposite elbows as her arms crossed; body language that suggested she was cold, when physically she shouldn't be. "…Yes, okay, Rindell. I'm afraid… I'm scared shitless of the sucky Daelaam, alright?" She'd raised her voice slightly, but then calmed, forcing herself to sober. "And now I have to meet the Hierarch. I have to face him, and I have to represent the Swarm, without separating myself from its history, unpleasant as that might be. I'd… so much rather just smack-talk my way through the whole thing."

" _You… are speaking of the event seven days prior. The Daelaam dignitaries at the Palace."_

"I put up a face when they became angry, but overall…" Her head shook lightly. "It was a really crap feeling, being yelled at for… things I had no control over, even after I'd already taken ownership of it. It was so irrational." Her voice began to elevate again. "I wanted to gouge their glowy eyes out, and hear their howls of pain…" Her carnivorous teeth bared in a joyless smile.

Rindell searched for words, but did not find any save for silence.

Several breaths, long seconds of silence. Saraslha spoke again, calmed, her joyless smile subsiding. "But I couldn't, and I can't. Not if I want to prove them wrong."

" _You should not bear burdens that are not rightfully yours. The Hierarch, he will seize upon any show of weakness, and use it to exploit you."_

"That's an assumption you're making, Rindell." Saraslha continued to calm, regaining control of her emotions. "Artanis is not his dignitaries. I owe him the benefit of the doubt."

" _His kind have caused untold destruction as well. Their claim over moral high ground would be absurd, should they make it."_

"That's up to him, not me, whether he takes similar ownership of his peoples' history. I cannot shame him into it, just as he should not have to shame me."

" _And if he is hostile nonetheless? If he shouts and insults you like his dignitaries did a week prior?"_

Saraslha's posture had calmed, her back still to the rest of the tram. Her hands lowered, and she took a deep breath, straightening her back. "I'm going to meet the Hierarch, and then… I'll know his caliber, and he'll know mine."

Rindell's hand set itself on Saraslha's shoulder. Her head turned that way in response. _"You are strong, my Princess."_ Rindell said. _"But I think you should rest soon. You are doing too many things at once."_

Saraslha's tired face shifted to a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Rindell. I like being busy, and tired. It's fulfilling."

Dehaka was silent, observing this scene from a distance. His expressionless eyes and armored hearing apparatus took their interaction in, and he processed it with nothing to say.

Ahead, visible through the automatic monorail tram's front windshield, the giant steel spire of the Augustgrad Palace was visible.

* * *

Admiral Horner was standing in his office aboard the Hyperion, with a live video call to Mira Han's headquarters displayed on the larger television mounted on his wall. He had obtained the contact codes for the mercenary space station from the Dominion Cyber Intelligence division. At first he was talking to a random mercenary who happened to be in the room, but then Mira finally came in front of the screen, looking abnormally sullen and wearing pajamas with a blanket over her shoulders.

"You… wanted to talk, Matthew?" She was looking away.

Horner had time to mentally prepare, and when he saw her he took a very deep breath. "Mira…" His head shook. "Mira, what the hell?"

"I can explain—"

"Please do!"

"it's business! Gal's got to make a living."

"You know who your target was. Don't play dumb."

She just shrugged. "I may have, I may not have."

His teeth were clenched, and he had a finger raised, though he was never good at being outwardly assertive. "I don't get enough sleep as it is, Mira, without another large-scale conflict against the Swarm keeping me up at night."

"Is that so? I'd sleep like a baby."

"So you'd wake up crying every half hour."

"Wars are a reliable meal ticket for people like me, Matthew. All the corporations start wanting beefed up security, and every fringe colony needs big guns to reinforce its militia." She looked off, diving into her own thoughts. "Fringe colonies might seem broke on the surface, but you'd be amazed at the kind of scratch they're able to scrape up—"

"Who hired, you, Mira?" Horner had calmed.

"That's confidential."

"Was it Kuraski?"

"I couldn't say." Her head shook.

"You'd protect someone who'd be willing to start a war."

"I may be a ruffian, Matthew, but I'm not a rat. The Marauders can live through a few botched contracts, but if I get a reputation as a mercenary who betrays her clients…" Her head shook as her brow lowered melodramatically. "I'd be outcast, my people would desert in droves, and I'd never find work again." Now she had a playful pout. "Would you really have it in your heart to do that to me?"

He ran a gloved hand down his own face, venting the stress from talking to her. "Don't make it personal, Mira…"

"It's not personal, Matthew. In fact if it wasn't business I'd tell you in a heartbeat." She had a creepy smile. "I really do care about you, and it breaks my heart to choose between you and my work."

Matt Horner felt backed into a corner. If he strong-armed Mira into testifying against Kuraski, then she'd be the one with integrity and the Dominion would be back to its old, corrupt self. When he realized this, the words came to him. "Very well, Mira. That's the last you'll hear out of me on the issue."

"Thank you, Matthew. And… it really has been nice speaking to you."

Horner was snuck up upon by the revelation that in spite of it being detrimental to his interests, Mira's integrity was a virtue; a good quality. "Yes, we'll… talk again sometime."

"Buh bye." The transmission ended.

Horner was left alone with his private thoughts in his dimly lit office, quiet save for the subtle hum and natural steel groaning produced by the Hyperion. He sank into his desk chair, processing his worries and his demons as he opened a lower drawer of his desk and took out a bottle of wine, pouring a glass. Matt Horner had no doubt that the Emperor was a well-intentioned individual; they'd worked together and he'd seen what he was like under pressure and when he had to make difficult decisions.

But the Dominion had been built by the previous Mengsk, and nations never changed overnight. Entities representing the Dominion's corruption; its totalitarian tendencies were still in place and still prevalent.

As he sipped his wine, the orbital traffic of Korhal visible through the window behind his desk. He recalled something Saraslha had said to him in the cantina earlier that day; that a Zerg who didn't submit herself to a higher authority was no better than an animal.

The same was true of him. He had power now; influence. But if he reached down and plucked the Dominion's corrupt elements with drastic, heavy-handed means, he'd be breeding the same environment that allowed them to grow in the first place. Mira actually had the right idea; adherence to a higher law; a higher principle, and not allowing himself to be defined by his enemies. That was how he'd win against corruption; against the worst in Humanity.

* * *

" _I may indeed have been to this planet you speak of."_ Zagara was on the conference table projector, speaking to Artanis. _"Your description is vaguely familiar."_

" _Our star maps probably look nothing like what your kind would use."_ Artanis said. _"That's why it's difficult to match them. We would have named the system differently as well."_

Zagara was quiet for a moment before speaking again. _"Then let us use the Terrans' map as a common template."_ The projection of her looked toward Valerian. _"Emperor, can you produce your map of the Neutral Expanse?"_

Valerian's chair had been rolled out of the way, so Artanis would be able to face Zagara directly. "That's barely explored territory for us, but we do have the coordinates of every star." He held down a button on the table. "Adjutant, run the star map and center it on the Neutral Expanse, reduced enough to include Aiur, Korhal and Char in the frame."

The computer adjutant silently complied. A 3D projection appeared between Artanis and the projection of Zagara. The overhead lights of the hall-like chamber dimmed to accommodate the map and make it more visible. Hundreds of white dots representing stars were shown, all with varying relative distance from one another. Valerian stood on his feet. "Here is Aiur," Aiur's star system was highlighted green. "Korhal." A red highlight located far to the right of Aiur. "And Char." A violet highlight beneath Korhal, much closer to Korhal than Aiur was.

Artanis was quiet, staring focused at the star map. Then he took a step closer, raising a finger to indicate a star with no data prompt save a name. _"It is the fourth planet of this system."_

"Marid Four." Valerian said, blinking in surprise at the speed at which Artanis identified the planet on a foreign map with only three distant reference points.

Zagara spoke, _"I will use that name from now on for the purpose of communication. And yes, I went there shortly after the final defeat of Amon."_

" _Is that so!"_ Artanis' voice remained soft in spite of its exclamation. _"How long were you on Marid Four, and what did you do?"_

Zagara settled herself to tell a lengthy story, placing one hand atop the other. _"The bulk of the Swarm was with our queen and myself as we made war with Amon. After he was destroyed, I led the Swarm on a migratory path back to Char. Marid Four was one of our stops. And it was here I encountered a remnant army of Hybrid, aimless and masterless."_ Zagara's head shook solemnly. _"I killed them all."_

" _How many?"_ Artanis said.

" _Two hundred and eighty six."_

" _That would be a challenge, even for you."_ Artanis brushed a hand through the air. _"I saw you during the final battle, and your power was nowhere close to that of the Queen of Blades. That number of Hybrid could have wrested the loyalty of your Broodmothers from you, or assassinated you with a concentrated strike, especially with their own ability to control Zerg."_

" _I do not lie. I have grown powerful since the battle against Amon, to the point where I could challenge the Queen of Blades as she was after the Brood War._

" _And this happened to you… during your conflict with these Hybrid?"_

" _Yes."_ Zagara said. _"While I do not lie, there is much of this story I must abstain from telling you."_ Now she leaned in, slightly more intent. _"For what reason are you curious about this world?"_

" _I shall not lie either."_ Artanis said. _"The purpose of my inquiry is the disappearance of a survey team on the world in question. I wish to learn as much as possible before sending another party, or a fleet."_

" _It fits with what I know, that you simply lost contact with no report of casualties or hostilities."_

Artanis' voice tone had become grim; serious. _"If not hybrid, what remains on this world that would have disrupted their communications, and possibly killed them?"_

" _I cannot answer that question."_

" _You don't know?"_ An inflection of anger made its way to his voice.

" _I do know. I am simply refusing to tell you."_

In a sudden, emotion-fueled motion, Artanis pushed himself away from the table, quickly turning around and taking a couple of steps away. _"I suppose it's to be expected, isn't it? The Swarm has no honor."_

" _You are mistaken, Hierarch. It is honor which prevents me from speaking of it."_

" _Prove it then!"_ He turned around to face her again. _"Prove to me this secrecy is not simply a ploy to send more of my people to their death."_

" _I cannot."_ Maintaining a perfect calm, Zagara's head shook lightly. _"I will… stretch my oath, to offer you the comfort that your survey party is probably alive."_

" _An oath…"_ Artanis had spite in his tone as he said this. His face peered downward, his brow glaring. _"I have no reason to believe anything you say."_

Valerian had been a passive observer during most of the conversation. The Protoss and Zerg had bad blood between them, the depth of which he could only begin to imagine. He thought it best to stay out of it and let them talk.

A noise behind him. While Artanis and Zagara had been speaking, Valerian turned around halfway to see what it was. A door had been cracked open, and peeping out of the crack was Saraslha's head. When he saw her, she withdrew immediately behind the door… until her head slowly peeped out again.

He gave her a hand gesture, ' _come on in._ ' At this invitation, she tentatively pushed the door open, walking in with Broodmother Rindell right behind.

"Introductions are in order." Valerian walked close to Artanis, cutting off his conversation with Zagara. Saraslha came close to the head of the conference table, her head scrunched down nervously. "Artanis, this is Princess Saraslha. Saraslha…" He turned to her. She stopped walking no more than two paces from Artanis and Valerian. "This is Hierarch Artanis."

Saraslha's hands were fists, and her posture stiff. Beady, wild eyes looked up at those of the taller Artanis. She inhaled to speak, but twitched, frozen.

" _Say what you wish to say, young one."_ Artanis said.

She inhaled more, and then it came out as a rapid, monotonous shout. "I told Karax he was lame and sucky but didn't mean it I'm sorry I was being insecuuuure!" She exhausted all her breath, then breathed in again, a nervous frown still on her face as she switched to a quiet, reserved tone. "Don't… don't be mean to my mom, okay?"

Valerian had never seen her act this way before. When they talked a week ago, he remembered relating to the fact that her words were always measured and tactful. But now she seemed like an adolescent, steered by emotion. And then a likely explanation came to mind; her intellect and tactfulness beyond her years was a result of her rapid growth as a Zerg. This… was her real self, laid bare from underneath that shell.

As a Protoss, Artanis' only facial emoting came from his eyes and brow. And right now they were blank; cold.

"There's… there's a lot to apologize for, even if it's all just words and they mean diddly squat." Her voice had normalized in the seconds after her outburst. "Look, I… know what my kind did to yours, alright? It's an unpleasant topic but I refuse to lock it away and pretend it never happened."

Valerian continued to hold his tongue. This was a conversation between the Daelaam and the Zerg, and he felt his part was simply as a mediator.

She continued, looking off as her distressed wince appeared. "I'm my mother's heir, and I have to be accountable for everything, including our history. I know nothing I ever do or say will ever make up for what we did—"

" _Enough."_ Artanis had a low, dark voice.

She inhaled nervously when he said that. Her head stiffly shrank downward again.

" _I wish to say something now."_ Artanis said.

Her eyes turned his way from her stiff, nervous posture. "S-sure… go ahead."

" _When a person chooses to stand for the greater good…"_ He took a step toward her. _"When that person accepts such a difficult, never-ending fight; one that lasts a lifetime…"_ He dropped to one knee. Due to his height, this made their faces level with each other.

Saraslha looked directly at him now.

" _They are never alone."_ He raised a hand and placed it on her shoulder. The weight made her sag a little, but it wasn't bad. _"I hold no ill will toward you, young one."_ His voice softened.

The tension, the nervousness, the fear. As she looked into the Protoss' eyes, they all began to dissipate. Her stance straightened as her hands came up, lifting his hand from her shoulder as she brought it close to her cheek. "You're… gentle." Her eyes widened as the word came to her. "If you found a bug in your house, you'd ferry it outside in a glass rather than kill it."

Artanis withdrew his hand, she released it as he did so. Then he stood straight again, taking a step backward. _"It is true that your race caused unspeakable suffering to mine; horrors which we will never forget. That said, my primary concern is that it does not happen again in the future."_

"I…" Saraslha looked off, frowning with thought. "I would never do something that… senseless." She looked at him again. "I'm very self-centered, don't get me wrong. But I'm not… stupid like that. I don't like getting what I want by taking it from other people."

" _That's an interesting thing to hear, from a Zerg."_ He peered down into his palm, also frowning in thought. _"I did not wish to behave rashly toward your mother."_ He said. _"It is simply... where threats to my people are concerned, I cannot show myself to be weak or merciful. This necessity can make me… insecure."_ With that last word, his telepathic voice had a light-hearted inflection that denoted self-awareness.

Saraslha smirked at this. "Yeah, well, I'mma let you off easy this time. Don't let it happen again."

" _I comprehend your humor."_

Her expression became flat; bored. "That's the closest thing to a laugh I'm gonna get out of you, isn't it?"

" _Indeed. And I think I've taken quite enough of your time, young one."_ He stepped back further, indicating the projection of Zagara, which had kept silent this whole time. The star map had been minimized, and wasn't obscuring the view of her.

Saraslha nodded at this, and walked up to the head of the table. "Mother? Is this a live connection?"

When Saraslha's back was turned to Artanis and Valerian, the two made immediate, silent eye contact.

" _Yes, Saraslha. I am present in the room, for all intents and purposes."_ Her telepathic voice became abnormally emotional. _"I… have never been separated from you for such a length of time. Seeing you again…"_

"Hey…" She was smiling involuntarily at seeing her again. "Don't get all soppy on me, mom. Other people can see you…" She recollected something. "Did you get my letter?"

" _I did. Are you enjoying your time in Terran space?"_

"Very much so." She perked up a bit in excitement. "Did I tell you that I killed a hybrid?"

This caught Artanis' attention. _"Where did you find a surviving hybrid?"_

Saraslha half-turned to look his way. "You'd be amazed the kind of secrets that Terrans are prone to keep from one another."

Artanis turned to Valerian, who simply shrugged. "There's indeed evidence of this, but it's an ongoing investigation. Had our central government known, we would have destroyed it immediately."

" _I suppose such… secrecy, is to be expected of a race with such primitive empathic links with one another."_ Artanis said, turning to Saraslha. _"You say you killed it? You do not look strong enough to have done such a thing."_

Saraslha shrugged, and had a tactful smirk on her face. "I must have gotten lucky."

" _I would expect nothing less from my daughter."_ Zagara said.

"Zagara, you're aware…" Valerian was rubbing his forehead awkwardly. "That Saraslha is as capable of dying as any other life form, yes?"

" _Of course. But what sort of life is one that is spent choked by fear? Risk inhabits every action, and it is foolish to cower from it."_

Saraslha spoke. "It's… not like I was in that situation because I wanted to be. I prefer to have a good chance of surviving."

"This is a good pivot to another topic." Valerian said, looking at Saraslha. "Your activities this past week are under investigation, and…"

"Yell you what, Valerian." She said with a detached amusement. "'Soon as your prosecution finds something to actually charge me with, I'll call a bail bondsman like a good little princess and show up in court. In the meantime…" Saraslha now looked Artanis' way. "I overheard your conversation, and I want to go to Marid Four to find your survey team. Maybe do a little surveying of my own."

Artanis was visibly surprised by this. _"There is little to no information available on this world, aside from what your mother is withholding."_

" _I owe no apologies."_ Zagara said. _"But I do understand your frustration."_

"You didn't send some kind of…" Saraslha turned a hand in the air. "Unmanned probe? Like one of those observer things?"

" _A hundred were sent, and they all fell silent upon entering the planet's atmosphere."_ Artanis said.

"And you're… really dead set on ascertaining what's going on there, aren't you?"

" _Yes."_

She grinned. "I'm totally going."

Artanis raised a hand. _"Your gesture is acknowledged, young one. But it is a Daelaam affair, and we will resolve it ourselves."_

"You said yourself that you're running blind and sending more people is a risk. Why not let me go? You'll be the first people to whom I report my findings."

"Saraslha…" Valerian was pinching his forehead again. "Your leviathan was killed on Tarsonis. How would you even get there?"

"Let me worry about that." She waved it off.

" _I'm afraid my answer is still 'no.'"_ Artanis said. _"It is expected of you to become a leader of your people. It would be irresponsible to needlessly put your life at risk."_

Saraslha crossed her arms, looking off and rolling her eyes slightly. "You're one to talk, Goldie."

" _Saraslha."_ Zagara said.

She turned to face the projection of her again. "Yes, mother?"

" _When…"_ A pause, _"When will you be coming home?"_

She paused at this, sobering as she looked down, processing what she said. "Not much longer, mom. I promise.

Zagara continued. _"I have been informed by Izsha, that you have been fighting a Terran organization without Emperor Valerian's knowledge."_

"That is entirely true, mother."

" _I must demand that you cease this reckless activity. If you commit a truly destructive act, the Terrans will be forced to punish you proportionately."_

"Yes…" She frowned, looking down. "I have a pretty good idea… of how that works."

" _And because I am accountable for you, I will be forced to carry out your sentence."_

This got Saraslha to inhale abruptly without changing her posture or expression. The Dominion's court of law was not much of a concern to her, but if the Overqueen backed their decision, then it was serious. "As… as you wish, mother." She looked up at her again. "No more crazy stuff. The Terrans can deal with their own bad apples."

" _It pleases me to hear this, daughter."_ Zagara peered past Saraslha, to Valerian and Artanis. _"If there is nothing else, affairs of the Swarm demand my attention."_

They both nodded, and the projection became static and switched off. "Alright then, Saraslha…" Valerian clasped his hands behind his back. "While I formally apologize for the alleged attempt on your life made by one of our citizens, I hope it places what I'm about to say in context. I'm retracting my previous—"

"No more free rein in the city, right?"

"Correct." He nodded. "As a foreign dignitary you may stay as long as you wish, but within the confines of your embassy and the Palace."

"You mad at me, Valerian?" Her face looked droopy and tired. "That I went all crazy in the Dominion?"

He shook his head. "How I feel on the matter is not important."

"You're right. Tell me anyway."

"I'm certainly glad you're not demanding Kuraski's head. That wouldn't be due process and I'd be unable to give it to you."

She chuckled a bit at this. "Didn't you hear what I said to Goldie over there? I don't like getting what I want by taking it from other people."

He nodded upward in a subtle motion. "Indeed. The mutually beneficial nature of our trade deal illustrates this quite clearly."

" _I was informed of this deal,"_ Artanis said. _"But it remains difficult to believe that you're trading with the Zerg."_

"An abundance of Zeta compound will do wonders for economic growth, especially in the fringe worlds." Valerian said.

"And help ya build heavily armed starships." Saraslha was smirking. "Them Class 10-or better fusion reactors don't just magically poof themselves into the energy-slurping Gorgons that need 'em."

"Y-yes, that as well." The Emperor scratched his neck, somewhat bothered.

" _There is no shame in being prepared for war, young emperor."_ Artanis said. _"The capacity to fight is the most reliable means of exempting oneself from needing to fight at all."_

"Yeah, Valerian." Saraslha maintained her smirk. "Don't be such a pacifist loser. Peace through strength, not wearing a 'conquer me' sticker on your quivering bum."

Valerian was put on the spot, becoming slightly indignant. "I comprehend your… attempt to tease me, Princess."

Artanis looked toward Saraslha. _"Have you seen our newly completed capital ship? It is a fearsome weapon with the capacity to bring fire and ruin to your kind."_

She snickered at this veiled threat. "Izsha's archives showed me images of a hulking piece of work, even bigger than a Leviathan. An ark ship, it was called."

" _The Spear of Adun has been returned to its dormancy, to serve again in another unforeseen time of crisis."_

"Good to know we won't have to worry about it, when the Swarm's innumerable hordes are kicking your arse from here to Aiur."

Valerian's face had been slowly sinking into something resembling horror. "Why are you threatening one another...?"

Saraslha shrugged. "'Feels nice. It's good to get the bad blood out."

" _Actual violence would be precluded by the utter lack of threatening speech."_ Artanis said. _"This is productive conversation."_ He turned, about to leave. _"If you'd walk with me Princess, I can assume you're able to speak for your race as a whole?"_

She nodded at this, a look of mild excitement on her face. "I'm glad you're using your first chance at conversation with us to its fullest." She followed as they headed for the main doors past the long table. Broodmother Rindell silently followed.

" _I owe at least that much to the my people, even if a large number of them think it a waste of time."_

* * *

The GenTek operative kept his distance as he observed the giant turtle having reached an uprising in the ground accenting the large entrance to a dark cave. As it slowly approached, one long and deliberate step at a time, a number of feral Zeglings shot out of burrowing all around it.

Even though Mar Sara had once been savagely bombarded by the Protoss, there still existed the occasional burrow of Zerg who'd been deep enough underground to survive. The occasional burrow was found to this day, and the Operative realized that the giant turtle had sensed this particular group.

The appearance of the Zerglings Prompted the Operative to immediately set his binoculars to record. The Zerglings were hostile to this foreign-smelling creature, and immediately charged for its legs and the space underneath its shell.

The giant turtle fired towering jets of liquid in all directions like a fountain. It all came out of the crease made by a slightly elevated plate on its back. The range of these jets was almost far enough to reach the operative at his concealed hiding place. The creature's titanic mass enabled it to dedicate an equivalent amount of muscle power to pumping this liquid with the force it did.

It puzzled the Operative that the liquid fired well past the Zerglings, not hitting a single one of them. But then the purpose became apparent. The liquid burst into flame, and the trails of the liquid jets circled to complete a round wall of fire, trapping everything in the turtle's vicinity within this arena of flame.

He felt the heat even from where he was, and his binoculars had only a blurred picture of what went on within this encirclement. The turtle's upper shell remained visible. More pores had opened from underneath individual plates all around its shell, and they fired bursts of napalm with deliberate timing and aim. The vibration from a massive impact shot through the ground as he saw the turtle's legs go limp and deliberately slam its armored belly into the ground, showing that going underneath it would be a fatal mistake.

His earpiece communicator got a connection. "Miss Simmons, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

" _Quite literally, yes."_

"Still nothing to suggest it wouldn't be helpless against an air attack… but my god…"

" _What sort of napalm is that? Some sort of bio catalyst with oxidizer?"_

"A biological element that oxidizes the flame?" His head shook. "Maybe a combination of both." He continued peering at the scene through his binoculars. The broad circle of fire only lasted 8 seconds, but by the time it burned out every Zergling was a charred corpse along with most of the arena denoted by a black ring in the landscape. "The Zerg make better napalm than us. It's almost humbling."

" _Mister Kuraski says that this whole thing is a distraction, and the Princess is only trying to divert our attention with it."_

"It is rather flashy. The top of a conspicuous giant turtle is the last place I'd stash my nukes if I actually planned to use them."

" _The Glass Raven will arrive soon. I'll kill this thing and then we'll confirm the nuke charges. Distraction or not, we may as well deal with it, lest it wander into a human settlement and cause harm."_

* * *

Zagara was in her communication chamber, using her Khaydarin Crystal to communicate two-way with Izsha.

" _Saraslha is waging a private war with a Terran named Kuraski, and when she arrived on Korhal, she linked with me, asking me to deploy an Infernolisk to Mar Sara."_

Zagara had just finished her conversation with Artanis and Saraslha before speaking privately with Izsha. Seeing her daughter again brought a sense of relief, but Saraslha's brazen activities in the Dominion were worrying. _"Abathur tells me the Infernolisk strain is not ready for integration; issues with its cost, mobility… It has even inherited the Zergling's allergy for lemons."_ She recalled Abathur having no explanation for that.

" _I have grown accustomed to simply doing as your daughter asks, however nonsensical it appears."_

Zagara paused for a moment... _"There's nothing to be done for it. You're dismissed, Izsha."_

" _Very well, Broodmother."_ The signal quieted.

Zagara turned and left her communication chamber. A leathery air valve opened for her as though a door. As she walked, she smelled a familiar being leaning back on the wall next to the door.

Alexei Stukov spoke to Zagara's back: "Is Marid Four really so touchy that you can't even talk about it?"

" _Are you trying to probe me, Stukov?"_ She continued walking away, unbothered by his eavesdropping and his question.

He followed and caught up to her with a brisk pace. "My… second resort will be going there myself. It'll be your fault for piquing my interest."

" _I do not care who goes there or why, only that it is not I who betrays its secret."_

"Someone you care about?" She could practically sense his eyebrow lifting.

" _My ascended queen, my daughter and the Swarm; these are the things I care about and none of them are on that world."_

Stukov was quiet for a moment as they walked together. "It's… not just bugging you over Marid Four. A name was brought up in your conversation, which piques my interest."

" _What name is this?"_

She could sense Stukov's mind becoming more tense; more anticipating of something. "Kuraski."

" _That is the Terran who made an attempt on Saraslha's life. An elaborate ploy to unleash a Hybrid in her vicinity."_

"That sounds about right." He walked faster, until he was side by side with her. "I'm going to Korhal, and you're not stopping me, Overqueen."

" _For what purpose?"_

He looked her in the face, his posture remaining relaxed in spite of his brisk walk. "You've got things you can't talk about, as do I."

" _Do what you must, Stukov. But the consequences will be yours to bear."_

* * *

Saraslha and Artanis were together in a broad, brightly lit corridor of the Palace, and she was speaking. "So that's why mothe- the Overqueen, wants to settle in the Peridot system. She talks about it every summit, but then whoa: inhibitions. We don't know how much it'll piss off the Protoss and there are other promising hunks of mass out there we could look at instead…" She inhaled quickly and continued before he could get a word in edgewise. "But now I can run it by you: We're gonna occupy Peridot One, and if you're not okay with it then tough luck, mm'kay?"

Artanis was holding Saraslha's tablet, with the star map open so he could translate which system the Terrans had arbitrarily labeled Peridot. Once he identified it he handed it back. _"Your demands are irrational and I firmly deny them. Peridot One was a Firstborn colony before Zerg eyes ever beheld it. It was abandoned on account of war, but our claim remains."_

"Blah blah tradition blah blah." She said mockingly. "I'm prepared to offer you the location and claim to a world you'll like way better than the sun-blasted madhouse that is Peridot One, if you just let us have Peridot One without a fuss."

" _Your mockery is not lost on me, and your offer has much in common with Terran trickery. If the world you offer is superior, then you would not trade it."_

"Okay…" She was rubbing her forehead. "What about Solarite? Protoss like Solarite, right? We'll give you truckloads of it."

" _Solarite is both rare and useful, but my answer remains no. Peridot One is Firstborn territory, and any infringement by the Overqueen's Swarm will be regarded as an act of war, our retaliation to which will be swift and without mercy."_

Saraslha pouted jokingly. "No warning shot?"

" _The warning has already been given."_

She shrugged, moving onto a new subject. "Since we're talking about territorial infringements, let's talk about the observers you've sent to low-orbit over our planets, no doubt giving rough estimates of our numbers to your intel people.

" _It was… not a decision I wholeheartedly supported."_

"Well I was gonna say that you can feel free to send as many as you like. Tracking down and destroying observers is well on its way to becoming a pastime. I would always come up to Rindell and say: 'Hey Rindell, you wanna go on an observer hunt today?' And she'd always be like 'sure…'"

" _As a potential enemy, our knowledge of your force concentrations and patterns could prove fatal for you. Is that not an issue?"_

"Of course, but if we're unable to efficiently detect and destroy your little flying robots, we deserve to be snooped on."

Rindell spoke up, still walking behind them. _"When she and I went observer hunting, I would always find more."_

"That's true, Rindell here is a natural when it comes to shooting down Protoss machines." Something came to mind, and Saraslha continued speaking. "I never asked: What brings you to Korhal, Hierarch?"

" _I am committed to maintaining my alliance with the Dominion, especially in light of the threat from Earth."_

She frowned quizzically at this. "Threat from Earth? What threat from Earth?" She looked back at Rindell. "What's he talking about?" Rindell only shook her head.

Artanis raised a hand palm facing up. _"Earth is the Terran homeworld. It is far from here, and little is known of its present state aside from a capacity and willingness to send invasion fleets to the Koprulu Sector."_

They reached an outdoor area which branched in two different directions and a railing overlooking the city. Here they stopped, and Saraslha leaned back on the railing, looking at Artanis. "Well yeah, I read up on that much, but they haven't been around since the Brood War… right?"

" _I am surprised at your ignorance of this matter, young princess. Six years ago they sent another fleet, but were once again repelled."_

"This is absolutely news to me. I hadn't been born six years ago, but there should have been something in Izsha's archives."

" _It was before my birth as well."_ Rindell said. _"The Princess and I are the same age."_

" _Zagara's Swarm was neutral during the conflict."_ Artanis said.

"Okay…" Saraslha was nodding now. "So it stands to reason we didn't have any memories or experiences to record. The Swarm has never much cared for history in which it wasn't involved personally…" She frowned with thought, looking down with her arms crossed leaning back on the railing. "These Earth humans, were they a threat?"

" _They were, and there is no way of knowing when they will appear again or in what numbers. That is why preparedness is vital, and it is imperative the existing empires of Koprulu not weaken one another through infighting."_

"You're talking as if the Koprulu Sector is all one big happy family." Saraslha shot him a look of pity. "That's the kind of optimism real life just loves to crap on, Hierarch."

" _You are entitled to your viewpoint, which I will give due consideration when dealing with you."_

"Your… optimism, is why you were willing to talk to me, right?"

Artanis walked up to the railing next to Saraslha, setting his hands on it. _"Through all the time I've known the Zerg, it was always your kind who were unwilling to talk."_

Her head tilted slightly. "My mother's Swarm is not the same as the Queen of Blades' Swarm, or the Overmind's or Amon's. As a collective entity it obeys its master, right or wrong."

" _Emperor Valerian made a similar argument. To which I countered that such absolute power is not prone to steer one along the right path."_ His head turned to face Saraslha. _"Your mother rules the Swarm because she is powerful, not because she is accountable or virtuous."_

Saraslha adopted the slightest, snidest of smirks. "And Valerian's in power because he's the previous guy's son. Maybe it's something you should just chalk up to cultural differences?" Her expression normalized, and she shook her head. "My mom is very reasonable and even-tempered. You can talk to her and should."

" _I have heard your suggestion."_ He backed away from the railing. _"While I've enjoyed our dialogue, young princess, there is other business on this world I must see to."_

"Same here. I'll see you 'round, Hierarch." She nodded as he turned and walked away.

Once he was gone she turned around and propped her elbows on the railing, staring at the city. She heard Rindell approach her side. _"That Protoss' figure is very appealing to me. I will craft a doll in his likeness."_ She said.

Saraslha smiled at this, still staring ahead over the railing. "You see that building over there, Rindell? The tower with the indigo-tinted glass?" She was pointing toward it. As she pointed, she noticed a bug land on her other hand, its wings fluttering and its abdomen pulsating.

" _I do. It is one of the larger structures."_

"That's GenTek's headquarters. It goes all the way down to the lower bowels of the city, with its foundation on ground level." She withdrew her pointed hand, still staring at the small bug which landed on her other hand.

" _Do you still wish to exact your revenge on this organization?"_

She adopted a low, evil grin with pointed teeth. "All my plans laid in motion, all the setup, the preparation. I can't leave it unfinished…" Her head shook. "Neither the Zerg part of me nor the human part of me will accept that." Her breaths became deliberate, and she began feeling a vague ache all throughout her body.

" _I support you in this, my Princess. They have harmed and threatened you, and must not be allowed to walk free."_

"You know, Rindell, I think…" The vague aching slowly intensified. She hovered her finger over the bug on her hand. "I think I'm about to have a growth spurt."

Her finger came down, crushing and killing the bug.


	18. Saraslha's Pride

**Illustrator's credit goes to to Fangtom for the awesome new cover art. Check out his FF and Deviantart pages!**

 **www fanfiction net/u/6438087**

 **fangtom1 deviantart com/**

 **For the full-res cover:** **fangtom1 deviantart com/art/Princess-of-the-Swarm-Cover-Art-744958662**

* * *

The news channel displayed live camera footage of Korhal's orbital traffic. Among the thick crowd of metallic grey and red stations and ships, a massive blip of gold stuck out. Its curvaceous structure distinguished itself as larger than anything else in view. A minotaur-class battlecruiser passing in front of it was like a mouse scurrying over a large ovular dinner table.

A female reporter narrated over this footage: "Roughly a fifth the size of the Spear of Adun: the colossal Protoss starship seen over Korhal during the End War, this yet-to-be classified vessel is an accessory to the most recent visit to our throne world made by Hierarch Artanis of the Daelaam. It did not appear in his previous visit, suggesting it to either be fresh off the drydock, or brought along as a statement of some nature."

The footage changed to a generic bird's-eye view of Augustgrad. "Against recommendations made by the Emperor's government not to pester or crowd any Protoss individuals on Korhal…" The footage changed again, to the halls of the Palace, with the reporter now in view. "I had requisitioned a press pass into the palace, and proceeded to the set of rooms allotted to the Daelaam for their embassy, stopping any Protoss I saw to inquire about this vessel, and their purpose for displaying it over Korhal."

"Courteous, but otherwise closed off and oblivious, the several Protoss I spoke to had nothing to say, until I ran into this individual."

A male Khalai in casual robes had stopped when he saw the camera, and walked toward it, allowing a mic to be pointed near his face. _"En taro Tassadar, human information gatherer. I am Yttrius of the Templar. What knowledge do you seek?"_

"Thank you for speaking to me, Templar Yttrius." She brought the mic back to speak. "Your peoples' upper capital tier starship, orbiting Korhal at this moment has prompted a torrent of speculation in internet traffic and the general populace at large. And so I must ask: Why the show of force?" She shifted the mic to him.

" _You Terrans would appreciate the process of creating the Burning Spire. A newly enacted smithing doctrine, and unprecedented salvaging trades in our society enabled a vessel of its scale to be completed within two years."_

"It normally takes longer for your people to build starships, then?"

" _For large ones, indeed. But our leaders have adopted policies that would be considered crude and lacking in artistry, yet have pragmatic merit, such as dedicating entire starship forges to producing separate pieces of a larger vessel, and sending parties out to bring back the remains of destroyed vessels and structures. You could say… how do you Terrans say it? we've 'taken a page from your book' by embracing inelegant practices for the sake of efficacy."_

"Very fascinating, Templar Yttrius. Back to the topic of the vessel over Korhal: what is the Hierarch's purpose for bringing it here, and what are its destructive capabilities?"

" _I'm not permitted to answer that question."_

The Reporter withdrew the mic to ask another question. "Do you not think it might send the wrong message? That you're trying to intimidate the billions of humans who undoubtedly see it over Korhal?"

In a sudden motion the Templar raised a fist. _"When a friend appears in your court bearing weapons, what meaning is there to be felt, other than he is ready to fight by your side?"_

"To answer your question literally: The meaning that if we were to become enemies, that weapon would be turned on us." She moved the mic back to him.

" _An interesting thought, human, and one which it appears would make any implicit message clear:"_ He stared directly into the camera, his resting brow giving off an unintended intensity which contrasted his friendly voice tone. _"Do not make us your enemy."_

* * *

Saraslha had been watching the news report, and palmed her own face at that last line. "Worst, possible thing you can say to the press." She peered over her couch, across the room to Broodmother Rindell. "Rindell, are you listening to this guy?"

" _I like him. He is not afraid to tell the Terrans he would destroy them."_ She was behind the bar in the kitchen, a huge mess of fabrics, as well as a half-eaten meat pie were strewn about, with her attention focused on a single doll and the needle she threaded through it. Saraslha and Rindell had occupied one of the many unused rooms in the Zerg embassy.

"Valerian said he wants me to talk to the press. One of those interview things." From behind the backrest of the couch, Saraslha lifted up a stack of papers held together by staples. "His staff even sent me a script of talking points. Like I need someone to help me pick words."

" _Given the nature of Terran communication, the Emperor must weigh his words carefully when speaking to the public."_

"It's a pollywompus system, I'll give it that." She sat up to look toward Rindell. "How's your doll of Artanis coming along?"

" _It is satisfactory. I have scripted a scenario for it to act in, alongside a doll of you."_ She looked off, then toward Saraslha again. _"Would you… like to see it?"_

"Yes!" She grinned, clapping her hands. "Do it!" She picked up the remote and muted the television.

Two animated miniatures climbed on top of the short table in front of Saraslha's couch. One looked like Artanis, with carved gold-painted wood comprising his armor and transparent plastic pieces for psi blades. The other doll looked like Saraslha, whose earthen-colored carapace was given shape with custom rubber casting molds, then fitted with painted metal claws and tiny glass eyes, all topped by individually casted rubber nerve cords. The real Saraslha was struck by how much care and effort Rindell had put into making the miniature of her.

The doll of Artanis made a dramatic gesture, treating the real Saraslha's general direction like it was the audience of a stage. "I am Hierarch of the Daelaam." It said aloud. "And my sworn mission is to seek out all people not pledged to the cause of unity, and set them on fire!" He thrusted a plastic psi blade into the air. The real Saraslha giggled at this.

The Saraslha doll snapped into motion, making a friendly pointing gesture toward the Artanis doll. "I like your style, pal. We could totally talk about stuff and address your grievance about that whole Aiur business."

"You are Zerg! But I will abstain from judging you for now!" The Artanis doll spoke with the same dramatic tone as his initial line.

The Saraslha doll clapped her hands together and lowered her head. "Let's talk Peridot one. The Overqueen wants it, you're not using it, we have solarite. You get where I'm coming from on this?"

"NO!" Doll Artanis' voice became shrill and squeaky as he stomped his foot. "NO NO NO!" Three consecutive foot stomps. The real Saraslha burst out laughing. Doll Artanis continued. "It's our planet, OURS! You'll be obliterated!"

The doll of Saraslha was calm and collected. "Okay… we'll put a pin on the subject, then?"

"You can't have it, it's ours…" Doll Artanis' voice became whimpering, he shuffled one foot on the tabletop while looking down. "I'll send my big scary fleet after you." After this motion, both dolls immediately froze in place, their scripts having ended.

Saraslha was still chuckling as she leaned back relaxed in the couch. "That was quite amusing, Rindell."

" _This doll script ridicules him."_ Rindell said. _"But I do maintain that the Hierarch's form is beautiful, and his mannerism gracious. He treated you with respect, and that surprised me."_ Both dolls started walking off. They hopped off the table together.

Saraslha leaned back, staring at the muted TV again. "What's the status of Hotel Marianne?"

" _Properly fortified and the ideal safe haven in a time of need. I have not allowed my pastime to interfere with the duties you've given me."_

"I'm pleased, Rindell." She picked up her tablet, sweeping her eyes over its live information feed. Keid had acquired a Science Vessel and was clearing it for entry into the airspace over Augustgrad. Tosh and crew were staking out GenTek headquarters and ascertaining a method of entry. O'malley was shopping for red paint for armor plating.

" _I must confess a degree of curiosity toward what this 'growth spurt' entails."_

"Something that'll come in handy for my plan." She stood up, tablet still in hand. This sudden motion caused a new wave of aching to wash over her senses. "We're hitting GenTek later today. Their main headquarters." Their headquarters was their most heavily-guarded property, and most important.

" _And what are your plans for their headquarters?"_

"A big pollywompus chain of events that will lead to Kuraski turning himself in and confessing. Then I'll finally have beaten him." Her own eyes beamed at the thought.

" _It will also be the end of his constant agitation for war."_

"Yeah yeah, that too." She waved it off, still fixated on her tablet. "Have my science staff moved the disguise-o-tron to this building?"

" _The smaller Terran scientist… Stetmann, says the cosmetic tuner is set up in the lower garage."_

"Perfect!" She headed toward the door. "Being under house arrest is the worst. Don't they know I've become a solid citizen in these parts?"

Rindell picked up a metallic case by its handle as she followed. " _I feel I must remind you that if you execute this plan against GenTek, the Overqueen will not be pleased."_

"It sucks I have to worry my mom, but fighting Kuraski is just too much fun." She opened the door heading out into the gleaming, well-lit metallic hallway.

" _To continue this private war would be to disobey her."_

"Eh, don't worry about it."

* * *

 **1 Hour later**

Saraslha came back to the embassy with a large cloth bag over her shoulder. She headed to the upper floors to see if anybody had arrived to her planning meeting early, and found Keid on the glass-enclosed terrace, his legs on a table and a digital book open on his tablet.

"Is everything set up on your end?" Saraslha set her bag on the table, confidently taking the seat across from him in spite of every other table being vacant.

He lowered his tablet, revealing a set of dark-bagged eyes contrasted against a nonchalant expression. "The Science Vessel's in place. There's a setting to fire the EMP without a missile-based delivery, the drawback being a need for environment data—"

"I'm lovin' it." She cut him off, setting her feet on the table in imitation of his posture. "Terran autonomy can be frustrating at times, but I've also found it can pleasantly surprise me."

"Humans tend to piss and moan about being worked to the bone." He brought up his tablet again, reading and talking. "Consider me the exception rather than the rule."

"Yeah…" She looked off. "It's not like I'm ignorant of that…" She frowned. "I know there's a material motive; you wanted to prevent a war, now Kuraski no doubt has a hit out on you and sticking with me is the safest option, if for no other reason he wants me dead even more…"

The young scientist had a crooked smile, fixated on his tablet. "You're wandering off on a tangent, Princess."

"I'm getting to a point." She growled grumpily. "Why are you working your ass off for me? Did the Swarm never… do anything to you in the past?"

"They killed my entire family." His tone was relaxed.

Her eyes were shining blue beads at this. "Why do you say that so plainly?"

"Because I've coped."

"Yeah, but still…" She had an uncomfortable frown. "The Swarm is my reason for living. You should hate me."

"If I'd met you a couple years ago, I'd have pulled my gun and tried to kill you, damn the consequences. But time and introspection can have a profound effect on we Terrans…" He scrolled down on his tablet. "I want what any sane person wants: Life and the pursuit of happiness."

"That's… I just…" Saraslha slouched lower. "I feel so bad now. My people hurt you."

"You've studied history, you know how much carnage the Swarm has caused. I would think you've already gotten used to the baggage."

"That's not the same…" She drawled. "You're somebody I know, that's different."

"I've accepted it and moved on, and you should too."

Her eyes were peering upward from her slouched posture as her foot tapped on the metallic floor anxiously. She swiftly pulled a bottle of cola form her bag and impatiently bit the top off, spitting it out on the tabletop and gulping the beverage in a single go.

Keid continued reading, indifferent. "On the phone you were talking about a plan to end our spat with Kuraski."

"That's right!" She perked up at this, setting her now empty bottle down. "We'll go over planning once everybody else gets here. I went to town to pick up a heavy weapon I can use."

He set his tablet down and pulled the bag closer to him. Out of it, he lifted a bulky, short gun with coiling cables, a visible energy capacitor and an obscenely wide barrel.

"You found my shotgun." Saraslha said, smirking. "The dealer let me use his shooting range, and that one made the most pleasing holes in the paper target."

"It's definitely an arm-breaker; ordinary humans couldn't use it without power armor." He lifted it to align the sights with one eye. "You're going to take a physical part in your plan, then?"

"Don't get me wrong." She accepted her shotgun from him, easily lifting it and aiming off to the side with a single outstretched arm. "I'm an armchair commander through and through, but in this case I need myself present at the site for the plan to work."

"The Science vessel…" He trailed. "Is a countermeasure agains the Chronos, but only if you can predict where it'll be and catch it by surprise. Those vessels aren't exacly known for being nimble."

She beamed giddily, putting her hands together. "You're analyzing my master plan! That makes me happy."

"Try not to die, alright? A dirty rotten traitor like me doesn't have a lot of employment options." He sat back down, raising his tablet.

"If this operation succeeds, you'll be able to go back to whatever life you had before I came along."

He nodded at this, still reading. "Matilde has been… wonderfully patient with me."

Silence.

When he lowered his tablet again, Saraslha was bent over the table staring at him, propping her elbows with her jaw cradled in her hands. She was smirking. "Is that your giirllfriend?" She asked in a rising pitch.

"Just one date." He shrugged, not letting her antics effect him. "Followed by many wonderful conversations over email."

She stood straight and went back to slouching on her chair relaxedly. "I didn't realize you had…" An intent look, "free time…?"

"Don't even try it."

"Aww, Marchen. You don't even know what I was gonna say—"

"My time is booked to the brim, find someone else to do whatever crazy nonsense you have lined up."

"Well what are you reading then?" She crossed her arms.

"Doctor Thomas Fang's thesis on theoritical Fusion manipulation. For that insane prototype reactor you're making us build to raise a middle finger to Kuraski, remember?"

Her arms crossed. "Of course I remember, I'm not dumb."

"You said dumb, not me."

She groaned, tapping her foot again. "Y'know, I never asked for a straight man."

"Nope," He smirked lightly now, "you just badly deserve one." He raised a hand and caught the empty Cola bottle she'd audibly picked up and thrown at him. With this he got to his feet and walked off, tossing the bottle back over his shoulder. "It's almost time for the meeting. Hopefully our glorious leader will attend..?"

By chance, the empty bottle hit her in the forehead, with no change in her wide, attentive expression as it ricocheted harmlessly off. She blinked several times as the young scientist walked away. "Marchen!"

He stopped, not turning around. "yes, Saraslha?"

Her mouth moved to speak, but she realized she didn't have words. "Th… throw this in the garbage!" She tossed the bottle back at him. It fell on the metallic floor, rolling and bouncing before stopping.

He crouched down and picked it up, then continued walking away without a word.

* * *

 **4 hours later**

The planning was over, and all preparation was done. Saraslha and her people had synced their watches, learned their parts, and the execution had already started.

The ground floor of GenTek headquarters was a public lobby, and the open air above was a broad shaft going all the way to the top floor. Saraslha and Rindell had entered in their human disguises, walking to the center near a steel and marble fountain. Throngs of people passed them by in all directions. A single distant staff member had quietly pointed their way, with another nodding and running off to report it.

Rindell saw this. Her tall, long-haired head turned to Saraslha. "Your growth spurt… is it ready?"

"So ready I gotta hold it back. You remember your part?"

"To protect you here, I must kill humans."

"The ones with weapons are fair game." She was peering up at her.

A large squad of lightly-armored men were walking briskly their direction. They carried rifles and pistols.

Rindell's hands were holding razor-sharp spines, held slack in semi-concealment. Saraslha climbed atop the fountain and adopted a kneeling position on its peak, oblivious to the water.

The squad of guards had gotten through the crowd and were now right up to them. Rindell shot into motion.

One spine thrown into the neck of one guard. The rest leveled their guns. The crowd was unaware within this split second.

The limbs of Rindell's avatar body had very long reach, and her other spine was stabbed into the chest of the next nearest guard with only the most cursory of lunges.

Guns discharged, screaming, panic. The body of the second stabbed guard was pulled into the line of fire, using the imbedded spine as a handle. A flurry of bullets from consecutive discharges. In spite of the meat shield, two bullets hit Rindell in the leg and one in shoulder.

The crowd was alerted, and immediately shot into panicked dispersion, every individual heading frantically for the nearest exit.

And then strength. Rindell's human meat shield was vaulted into the squad of remaining guards at an extreme velocity. Right above this dead body, following it closely was Rindell herself having leaped over her own throw. Two more bullets, from two guards who'd kept their wits about them buried into her center of mass, but it was too late and not enough damage. She'd gotten close to them, and the pain only intensified her killer instinct.

Two sliced-open necks. A low-kick knocking another on his back with the next upward move in her dance taking his neck with a fresh spine. With one guard left on her mental count, she swept her gaze in panorama, found him running and whipped a final spine into his back.

The screaming and panic had subsided, with the lobby empty and alarms sounding with restricted areas of the building having sealed off with heavy metal doors and shutters. Saraslha was gone.

* * *

 **8 Seconds Earlier**

Saraslha's human disguise shut off as she visibly grew bigger in her kneeling position. Her human clothes tore and fell off as her jagged carapace reconstituted itself and then expanded. Its earthen pigmentation adopted streaks of black, and her nerve cords relaxed into a lengthened state as a compressed growth in their roots was finally released. Rindell was killing guards with a near-constant sound of gunfire. No bullets came her way.

Finally, a circumference of thin, flexible appendages began to push out the skin all around her waist with a membrane stretched between them. It emerged immediately as a set of webbed wings, near-identical to those found on the archaic flying queen. The Swarm Queens' evolution from their precursor had increased their mass to the point where flight was no longer feasible. For the lightweight Saraslha this was not an issue.

Her new, gently billowing skirt of wing mass was lain outstretched, open in the front to accommodate her legs. Controlling it came naturally to her, and soon a strong uprising of air particles; flying microbes built up underneath, gently impacting the membrane in vast quantity and giving her lift. She shot into the air, flapping gently as she flew up the main shaft of the building.

* * *

 **The Past, planning table**

"Rindell's gonna kill a few guards on the ground floor." Saraslha said as she indicated the lobby of GenTek headquarters on a 3D projection. "That will function as one distraction among several. GenTek planned for a lot of things in this building's security, some jackass walking through the front door with a jetpack isn't one of them, surprisingly."

Rindell spoke up from her spot at the planning table. _"How will you reach Kuraski once you're on the top floor? The doors will be sealed shut."_

"Great question!" Saraslha turned to Tosh, who'd been quiet until now. "That's where you come in."

* * *

 **The Present**

Gabriel Tosh had found a quiet place to hide in the lower levels of GenTek headquarters, beneath Augustgrad's top plate. The location was a storage depot, with a connection to the city's rail network. He'd memorized the building's layout, and knew that there were laboratories one floor down, and the central security hub—his target, one floor up.

One thing piqued his attention. From his vantage point behind a storage container on an upper elevation, he spotted a giant, gleaming black metal box. A psionic presence emanated from inside, and he wanted to investigate, but Saraslha's plan had a tight time window for everything, and now he had to move.

He walked out into the open floor of the elevation, cloaked and undetected as staff members passed him by. He walked ahead, crossing their path as he set down a metal pipe on the floor.

Somebody tripped on the pipe just as it left Gabriel's cloaking field and became visible. "Are you alright?" Somebody asked helping him up.

"Yeah, just some jumpsuit left a plumbing piece lying around." He brushed himself off and moved on.

Gabriel, still cloaked and hidden, held in his hand the staff member's access card, taken as he was falling down. It wouldn't allow access into high-clearance areas of the building without biometric ID, but it would allow him into the service stairway without raising an alert.

* * *

It only took a few seconds for Saraslha to fly up the central shaft to the upper floors of GenTek headquarters. As she levitated in place, the awestruck gazes of humans were directed at her from behind the glass wall as she drew out a metallic tool she'd been carrying on a shoulder strap:

Her gauss shotgun.

The earsplitting discharge of the weapon was accompanied by a burst of blue plasma from the muzzle as its slug pelted through the safety glass wall, creating a tiny hole surrounded by a giant web of cracks and slivers. The civilians, all office workers, had already been agitated by the lower floors' alarm and dispersed, running away.

With this, Saraslha found her balance with the webbed wings mounted on her waist; close to her center of mass. How to move forward came naturally as instinctive memory, and she barreled headlong into the weakness in the glass.

She landed in a kneeling position past the window with shattered glass flying all around her, with her skirt of wing mass lain flat across the floor. As she stood on her feet, the broad flight membrane receded back into her waist, enough not to touch the floor in their slack state as she stood upright.

With the gauss shotgun held easily in her right hand, its strap going around the same shoulder, she headed toward a metal blast door, the door to the executive offices, which was sealed shut. Here, she waited.

* * *

Gabriel Tosh broke his cover at the last possible minute. Two guards—these ones in CMC suits and carrying military-grade gauss rifles, were posted outside a sealed blast door that lead to the central security hub.

He killed both guards quickly, the first by ramming a blade into a chink in his armor. As the first was dying Gabriel wheeled around, not letting go of his blade as he took a one-handed shot with his rifle, piercing the second guard's visor and killing him.

He wrested his blade out and sheathed it without bothering to wipe the blood. Then he unlatched a metallic capsule from his belt, a capsule filled with something Saraslha had provided, and whose danger could not be understated: pressurized baneling acid. An interior layer of flimsy but corrosion-resistant plastic gave the capsule several hours of life before the acid got out.

He whipped out a smaller knife and stabbed the thing, hastily pulling his hand out of the way as he knelt next to the blast door and directed the gushing puncture in the capsule to hit the door with its spray of acid. The green substance ate through the metal as he aimed it around, creating a nice even hole.

Once the hole through the blast door was created and the acid spent to the point of being fused with the metal, Gabriel threw out the canister, got into a prone position and slithered through.

On the other side, noting no people inside, he came to the main terminal of the central security hub. Here, he took a plastic-encased disc out of another pouch and inserted it.

" _This program was made to infiltrate GenTek's proprietary OS. It'll log you in as a pseudo guest account with admin privileges."_ The memory of what he'd been told.

* * *

Saraslha had to wait less than half a minute. The blast door in her way unlatched and opened as a new set of alarms were raised: The emergency fire exit protocol.

She strode through the executive offices. More people in suits fled through the now-accessible exits. Her eyes darted over every one of them to be sure none of them were Kuraski. She turned left in her calm walk, heading up an open staircase flanked by shrubberies. After passing an elevation with two desks at her flanks, she proceeded straight to the next brief flight of steps.

David Kuraski was at his desk, relaxed and unaffected by the alarms blaring and the shouts of panicked people. Saraslha was 2 meters from him when she stopped, and leveled her gauss shotgun at him.

A bored look on his face, he took in her appearance with a mild look of surprise. "It would appear you've—"

The blast of her gauss shotgun perforated his metal desktop with holes and blew his chair away, with the remaining pellets from the spray of its buckshot payload burying into the safety glass of the window behind the desk.

Kuraski still looked bored, unaffected. A wave of static briefly blurred the holographic image of him as he stood on his feet from sitting on the air. "Did you think it would be that easy, Saraslha?"

She relaxed her gun arm, letting it hang. "You wouldn't be worth it if it were."

"I feel the same way."

She sent a telepathic message, _"Gabriel, rescind the fire exit protocol on my floor."_

The emergency blast doors shut once again, sealing off every entrance to the office area. If guards were coming, they'd need time to get in.

"Is there a reason you're here?" The hologram of Kuraski said, still bored.

"I'm here to test your resolve." Saraslha opened a storage compartment on her shotgun's stock and took out a handheld detonator.

"Did you break another joystick off an arcade machine?" His look became one of mild amusement.

She held the detonator out, hovering her thumb over it. "Your head of security should be finishing off my pet on Mar Sara just about now. Ask her how many nuclear charges she found.

Now frowning, he took out his phone.

* * *

The immediacy at which Karla was able to kill the Infernolisk with the Glass Raven was almost unbelievable. The giant turtle had no defense against an attack from the air, and could only move sluggishly away as her ship pounded its shell with a flurry of particle blasts.

Once the reading of its vitals had been suppressed to the point of nothing, she dispatched a land force to the top of its black-burnt shell to secure the container and ascertain the nuclear charges.

She got a call from Kuraski, which she picked up. "What do you need, sir?"

" _Karla, how many charges are there?"_

When she got the report from the people on the ground who'd just opened the container, her gut sank. "…Seven."

* * *

Saraslha spoke: "So… you know I bought eight. Where do you think the last one is?"

The hologram of Kuraski set his phone down, frowning. "…I don't need to guess. You're already dead, Princess Saraslha."

She looked past his hologram, toward the window to the outside. Hovering outside the window was the Chronos, imposing its sizable arrangement of six arms as a shadow in the sunlight.

And at this deadly machine, she just beamed as her free hand raised, its fingers counting slowly down from five. Her nerve cords stood more stiffly with subtly stimulated motion. The hologram of Kuraski disappeared.

* * *

 **The Past**

At Saraslha's planning table, Keid indicated one of the smaller skyscrapers in the 3D render of the upper city surrounding GenTek headquarters. "The Science Vessel will idle right over this building, posing as a jerry rigged civilian comms platform. Once the Chronos appears, it'll fire the EMP."

Saraslha nodded at this, her arms crossed and frowning in thought. "The Chronos will need to occupy a predictable range of space if it wants to target me inside the building, so we know where it'll be."

"That's entirely correct. The Chronos has proven its efficacy over Tarsonis, so Kuraski won't hesitate to use it if it means finishing you."

"I'm loving this plan, you guys." She surveyed everybody at the table. "It looks on the surface like I'm just charging in without a plan, and that's the perfect cover."

"Nab Mister War Maker's toy, and get this whole mess done with." Tosh said.

"So…" She put her hands together. "Once the EMP hits, how long do I have?"

"Five seconds, before its shorted systems reboot and the brain is insulated once more."

She nodded. "After my growth spurt, it will be enough."

* * *

 **The Present**

The Electro-Magnetic Pulse fired silently. It was fired directly through the air rather than the missile-based delivery system typical of battlefield EMPs. Because of this, the Chronos did not detect the EMP until it hit. And when it hit, Saraslha felt the presence of a new mind: The Chronos' brain, now revealed to her due to its psi insulation being depowered.

She immediately moved to dominate its mind. Her growth spurt significantly boosted her ability to link with other Zerg, and focusing on only one target without simultaneous control of a brood reduced the time she needed to only a few seconds.

Nothing happened. She sent commands to the Chronos, and it did not respond. The giant cyborg's mind sent her no feedback; no compliance, no empathic link. And then her few seconds were up, and the psi-insulation reactivated, shutting her out. "Dammit!" She yelled, now shaking with fear. "What the flipping sucky hell!"

"Did you seriously think the Chronos would have such a weakness?" Kuraski's voice was back. "Its entire reality is defined by the stimulus given to it by its machine body. Drugs and electric currents provide it with all the satisfaction it needs. It has no need for a master, as your kind would frame the concept."

Saraslha had regained her composition. "You're…" Several long breaths. "You're not gonna kill me with it." She stated this plainly, not as a question or expression.

"Oh? And why not? Killing you has been my entire objective for a while now."

She was smirking now. "Because if you kill me here, in your office above the top plate of Augustgrad in broad daylight, the entire Dominion will know. You'll start the war you want, but then the blame will be laid at your feet. And something…" Her head tilted a bit. "Tells me that you're not the type to die nobly for your cause."

"It's still a resort. Don't think I won't—"

"My move now." She brandished her detonator once again, not moving from her spot in plain view of the Chronos. "Check the train schedule for the warehouse level of this building. Have any of them been… late to arrive?"

* * *

 **The Past**

O'malley and a squad of infantry were waiting at a rigged-together fake checkpoint at a railroad on the desert ground in the outskirts of Augustgrad. He and his men had just put the finishing touches on their armor; painted the colors and regalia of the Dominion Garrison.

The train came on schedule, and was signaled to stop. It coasted its speed down until it came to a standstill right before the checkpoint, and the train's single driver came out of the engine car's cockpit.

O'malley stepped forward. "Apologies for the stop, sir. There's been a security threat, and all incoming trains to the city are to be subject to auxiliary scan."

The pilot looked off, uncomfortable, then at O'Malley's visor. "And… I had to stop for this?"

"These scanners go through the containers with a fine-toothed comb. They're finicky with moving objects." O'Malley continued talking. "So where you headed?"

He indicated back at the train with a thumb. "Materials delivery to GenTek Central. Is this gonna take long? I don't want to be late."

"Not to worry." He raised an armored hand in reassurance. "Should only be another minute or so."

* * *

 **The Present**

Saraslha spoke, "That's right, Kuraski. It's in a shipping container inside the mid-section of your building, immersed in lead and copper flakes to throw off scanners. If I push this button, it'll kill everybody on that floor, then the building's superstructure will be compromised, and its entire top half will come down on its bottom half, going all the way down to the city's ground level. I'll flitter away safely out the window with my wonderful new power of flight, and you'll be fired, out on your arse from what's left of GenTek before the garrison stops by to put a pair of cuffs on you."

"…What are your demands?"

"Head straight to the nearest Garrison office and confess. Take the fall, and don't let your organization suffer any further for this private war."

The hologram of Kuraski reappeared behind his shotgun-blasted desk. A propped arm held his head at the end of two outstretched fingers, and he was thinking deeply.

"I haven't got all day, Davie." Her thumb hovered over the button. "What's it gonna be?"

"You…" He sighed, now eyeing her with a look of genuine joy. "Have woken me, Saraslha. And as we've... contended, you've continued to wake me. I feel as though I have it back, a… strength of intellect I'd thought lost, because it wasn't needed."

Saraslha's brow raised, ever so slightly. "You feel like a Zerg, then. Giving it your all because it's finally, refreshingly permitted."

"Yes… yes indeed. I know what move to make."

Her head tilted. "I don't see you getting up and heading for the Garrison."

He spoke aloud: "There's a shipping container in your vicinity that you'll sense is filled with copper and lead. Destroy it before the bomb within can execute its reaction. If you fail to do this, you'll die."

A chill, a pleasant, beautiful chill ran up Saraslha's spine; Kuraski wasn't talking to her.

He continued to speak. "I grant you… your freedom!"

* * *

The giant monolith box made of gleaming black metal had received a remote signal, which caused it to shoot open. The revived Hybrid Niadra was released from her shackles. The Human's counsel may not have been true, but nonetheless she would minimize the risk to herself. She leaped to a higher floor of the warehouse, homing in on the box filled with copper and lead. She raised a hand, charged an energy blast and fired.

The container was destroyed, along with all of its contents. There was no bomb inside.

* * *

 **The Past**

"You're not actually going to smuggle a bomb?" Keid was frowning toward Saraslha over the planning table. "That's a very, very high-stakes bluff."

"I don't need there to be an actual bomb." She said. "Because the finishing blow in this strategy will be founded on the inner workings of Kuraski's own mind; the very reason he tried to kill me to begin with. To believe there isn't a bomb will compromise his conviction that I'm an evil force infecting Humanity. He will comply to my demands, because to not do so will be to compromise everything he tells himself he's defending."

Tosh spoke up: "He thinks you're a bane to Humanity, so you threaten to blow up the neighborhood, and he feels it's the most natural thing in the world."

She nodded at this. "That's why the bluff will work. He'll believe without a doubt that there really is a bomb. And when there isn't, he'll have no case against me. The only variable…" She peered downward, sober. "Is what he'll do in the moment."

* * *

 **The Present**

"You let Niadra go!" Saraslha bellowed. "And you brought her back to life? That's so…" Her head shook rapidly. "Cheap!"

"And there wasn't really a bomb." He was looking at an information feed at his real location. "I've unleashed damnation for nothing."

"It's fine… it's fine." Saraslha was regaining her composure. "I killed her once, how hard can it be to do it again?"

"You don't understand, Saraslha." Kuraski was focused on her now. "It wasn't just the box that kept the Hybrid contained. She was also given the bare minimum sustenance; kept in a weakened state."

This clicked in Saraslha's mind, and her eyes widened. "That… makes a scary amount of sense." When they fought on the Grey Mesa, Niadra had been running on empty. Saraslha could only fathom what her true power looked like.

Now Kuraski's head was visibly shaking through the hologram. "Now there's nothing that can save you. Niadra remembers what you did to her. She senses you here, and will come for you once she finds food and recovers. There's a significant cache of minerals and vespene on her floor, so it won't be long."

Saraslha kept it together. She still had one more card to play. She sent a one-way message through telepathy. _"Keid, second EMP, now."_

The Chronos, still idling outside the window of Kuraski's office, was hit by a second electro-magnetic pulse which shut down its psi insulation."

" _Rindell, revert to your original body, then avatar the Chronos. It's plan B!"_

" _I shall not fail, my Princess."_

The Chronos' robotic arms started shifting in spastic motions as its controlling brain was assaulted. Then it lost altitude and fell out of Saraslha's point of view. Its impact on the asphalt below was crisply audible.

" _Rindell..? Rindell!"_ Saraslha received no response.

And then a new telepathic voice, one defined by rage, and coming from a very near location. _"I AM COMING FOR YOU, SARASLHA. YOU. WILL. DIE!"_

A heart beat; her own and audible in the otherwise silent space. Niadra had found tanks of Vespene gas on the warehouse level of the building where she'd been released, and now she was coming.

Saraslha lifted her shotgun and blasted a new hole through the window to the outside as she leaped easily over Kuraski's vacant desk. As she broke through the weakness in the glass, she emerged to fresh, warm outdoor air as her circumference of wing mass stiffened and extended once again out from her waist. She flew, and flew well and effectively.

 _It'll be fine._ Saraslha thought to herself as she sensed Niadra finding a way above Augustgrad's top plate. _I have an advantage in mobility. If Niadra comes for me, I can evade and pick her off with my—_

The immediacy in which the figure just above her appeared shot Saraslha out of her analytical mindset. Niadra was now only a meter away from her in mid-air. The Hybrid's bladed tentacles had become the framework for a set of wings, and the speed at which she… Saraslha had no time to think.

Saraslha's arm lifted instinctively to block, but the brutal kick from Niadra's heavy appendage crushed her fingers, then the all bones inside her arm, flattening the entire limb into a twisted mess that dug painfully into her body. Saraslha was bludgeoned downward. She descended onto the concrete roof of GenTek headquarters. The velocity of the impact crushed both her legs as well.

The pain was even worse than when she'd been impaled. Saraslha was semi-buried into the concrete. Above in the sky, she saw Niadra, radiating with energy due to having fed off a supply of Vespene gas, and now charging an energy blast, aimed down at her and this one significantly stronger than the one she used on the Grey Mesa. Saraslha could not move, and had no protection from it. The energy blast came down, and the last thing Saraslha perceived was its white and violet light engulfing her vision, and then the rest of her senses.

* * *

Hierarch Artanis rushed to the nearest terrace of the Palace. He sensed what had just been released, but had to see it with his own eyes. A winged Hybrid, levitating over Augustgrad's skyline.

The confusion he felt at the sight of it was interjected by the voice a nearby palace guard. _"Please head back inside, Hierarch. The city is entering emergency lockdown."_

He looked up and saw dozens of capital ships becoming visible in the sky. The bottoms of their metal hulls heated to an orange temper as they hastily entered the atmosphere. Air raid sirens erupted from all sections of the city as shutters went down and people cleared the streets.

Artanis turned to the Palace guard. _"Where is the Emperor? Take me to him."_

" _He's in the C &C room, right this way." _The armored guard walked past the Hierarch, heading for a still open powered door leading inside. Artanis followed.

* * *

When the report came to Admiral Horner of a hybrid being loose in the city, it was like a nightmare made flesh again. And when he greenlit the Core Fleet to enter Korhal's atmosphere, the visual feedback given by the first scouting intel elevated that nightmarish memory. The Hybrid levitating over Augustgrad had features he'd never seen; wings whose color flowed in every sickly hue one would see in spilled gasoline, a long tail with a thick bulb at the end, and a head that looked decidedly Protoss, but with an adornment of horns and fins.

"All units are to exercise extreme prejudice." He ordered, glaring at the image. "Destroy that monster, whatever it takes." As if on cue, the flying Hybrid darted back toward the ground, blending into the tall steel buildings and abandoned cars below. Hundreds of drop pods were deployed into the streets as the Garrison formed blockades. High-speed aerospace craft darted over the skyline in patrol patterns.

"Admiral," The bridge's communications officer said. "There's a transmission from the Palace, top clearance."

"Put it on screen." He nodded upward.

It was Hierarch Artanis. _"Admiral Horner, you must quarantine that entire area of the city, and see that the Hybrid does not escape."_

"That's already being done." He said as he paced anxiously. "Do you have any information on this class of hybrid?"

" _No, only assumptions, which I urge you to hear."_

"Make it fast."

" _Amon had nothing to do with its creation. I do not sense his taint on this creature."_

"What does that entail?"

" _It may have abilities which Amon barred his own hybrid from possessing, as they'd pose a threat even to him if they held such power."_

"And what is that power?" He said, following Artanis' chain of speculation. "What do you think this hybrid may be able to do, that even Amon would have withheld from his own creations?"

He looked off, betraying a look of genuine fear before peering toward Horner again. _"Reproduction."_

The weight of this new information needed a second to sink in. "…Understood, Hierarch. We'll destroy it as quickly as possible."

" _I hope it is that simple."_ The transmission ended.

With this, Horner turned to his lineup of officers all seated or standing at consoles. "Deploy the Sixteenth Brigade into the heart of the compromised area, and reroute aerospace divisions nine and twenty-two to provide close air support." Two officers efficiently got to relaying these orders. The Sixteenth Brigade was formed from experienced combat veterans, making them the best available choice to fight the Hybrid head-on..

" _Who called in the fleet?"_ The main screen displayed a naval officer on a different capital ship bridge.

"Commodore Ramsey." Horner greeted. "You're to bring your Gorgon to low altitude over the quarantine zone. If that hybrid flies high enough that the city is no longer behind her…"

Ramsey held out his smoking pipe intently. _"She'll be blown away. Understood, Admiral."_

* * *

Saraslha awoke atop a small bed off to the side from a metallic corridor. Vibrations and positive/negative Gs suggested she was aboard a ship in flight. She felt regular pain from her still broken arm and legs. "How… am I still alive?"

She spotted Keid in the pilot's seat just ahead of her. He looked back for a split second before looking ahead. "This old science vessel had enough energy to put a defense matrix over you. Tosh found you in the rubble, jumped aboard with you, and now we're headed back to the embassy."

She sensed Tosh aboard the vessel as well. No doubt cloaked and making himself scarce. Saraslha tried to sit up, agitating the still shattered bones in her legs. "Dammit…" She grabbed the twisted mess of her broken arm with her unbroken one, ignoring the pulsating pain as she twisted it around and pulled it into a set position. "That sucky jerk, Niadra. I can't believe she's been revived."

"You need to know something about that Hybrid." Keid said, focused on flying. The vessel was moving low above the streets between buildings; an illegal and hazardous maneuver, but one which concealed the vessel. "If it ever obtained more than its minimum sustenance, a genetic trait derided from her Broodmother's womb would come out of atrophy. She would be able to breed."

The cuts on Saraslha's broken arm had sealed, and the bone was gradually reconstituting back into its solid shape. "Does that mean hybrid babies?"

"Not at first. She's used to birthing Zerg strains and that's what she'll default to. But if she escapes and has a chance to experiment and evolve, hybrid babies are a very real possibility."

Saraslha's nerve cords were perfectly fine, and she contacted Izsha. _"Izsha, you have to inform the Terrans—"_

" _Broodmother Zagara is not pleased with you, Saras-"_

" _We're in crisis mode, Izsha!"_ Saraslha said, annoyed. _"Zerg strains at first, but if the Hybrid escapes she might be able to create more hybrid. That's the threat we're dealing with. Let the Emperor and Hierarch know."_

"… _Very well. And I shall open the Embassy terrace doors for you."_

The Science Vessel Was approaching one of the Zerg embassy's terraces, where the ship idled in hovering, just close enough to jump from its hatch to reach it.

"Time to abandon ship." Keid threw off his seat belt as he wheeled the chair around and got on his feet. He walked up to Saraslha and offered a hand.

She gripped a handlebar above the cot and easily pulled her entire body up, letting her shattered legs dangle and bringing her face level with his. "Just give me a few seconds. My legs'll be working again soon."

"Say no more." He turned to a metal cupboard on the other side of the narrow cockpit area, opened it and took out a first aid gauntlet that looked like it had been unbolted from a medic suit. "Hold still for a second." He was holding it in two hands.

"Hey hey hey! Hold on a minute." She frowned nervously.

Its green energy beam shot her legs, and she felt incisions slice along them from concentrations of controlled thermal energy, this unpleasant feeling quickly faded as her legs numbed. He spoke aloud, "Pain signals inhibited, commencing reassembly of bone structure. Will assume human anatomy with ten percent margin of error."

Saraslha decided to let him do it, but still wanted to gripe, "I can't help but think you get off on disobeying me."

"What?" He looked up at her face, broken from his concentration. "Yes." He answered simply before going back to his task. The green light and pulses of energy persisted. He turned a specific dial inside the hand slot, his eyes fixated on an information feed coming from a tiny screen on the gauntlet, "Probiotic ions have produced an unexpectedly strong acceleration of the healing process. Zerg have good bacteria to be envied." He cleared his throat a bit. "Repairs satisfactory, closing surgical cuts." The beam shut off, and he began setting the heavy gauntlet back inside the closet.

Saraslha let herself down on her feet. Her legs still ached a bit, but they remained intact. "I thought only women could use those things."

"What gave you that impression?" He shut the closet.

"Char is packed with dead armored people. All the skeletons inside medic suits had the female rib count."

He shrugged at this, heading through the door as she followed right behind. "During several End War deployments they stuck me in a medic suit, carrying a big shield and tending the wounded. Pretty sure they knew I was a guy, too."

They reached an airlock, which they entered. The bulkhead doors exchanged, exposing them to the fresh air outside, along with the sound of distant gunfire, explosions, and the city's air raid sirens. The terrace of the embassy, and an open slide door were present.

* * *

The layout of Augustgrad's roads and clearings were planned, with most of its streets in a grid-like layout. While this was not done with war in mind, it made blocking off an entire section of the city a simple task for the Core Fleet's ground forces deployed from the skies. Heavily armed and armored frontline forces quickly came to supplant roadblocks and checkpoints formed by the lightly equipped Garrison's first response.

And it was just in time. The Hybrid had gone into hiding in the bowels of the city, and as predicted, Zerg forces under its control struck out of the quarantined area, charging one of the roadblocks as they fired spines and acid.

Sergeant John Ambrose was a veteran of the End War, and had been on the receiving end of attacks like this before. He and his squad were formed in the front line on a major causeway of the city. He ordered the infantry to hold their fire; wait for the enemy to enter an effective range before exhausting ammunition. The distant Zerg were rapidly closing that distance.

The thundering crack of heavy artillery behind the front line sent vibration through the air that was felt through his suit, followed by the further hammering and vibration of the shells' impact on the streets ahead. Small pinpoints of the charging swarm were expelled upward in fountains of blood, smoke and charred body parts. The overhanging arm cannons of a Thor heavy mech were visible through the top corner of his visor. He knew it was there from the tremoring steps felt behind him when it got into position. Its arm cannons fired right after the artillery, sending more heavy projectiles into the advancing horde.

"Fire at will!" The infantry let loose with their gauss rifles and ballistic impact grenades. His view of the charging zerg was overlain with gun smoke and flashing lines of tracer rounds as his hearing was drowned out by the din of relentless weapon discharges. "Activate stims." The order functioned as a voice command within his own suit. When the needles implanted, he felt a shredding pain throughout his upper body, which was immediately deleted and supplanted by a joyful sensation. He felt full of energy, like he could lift a boulder, and his focus became acute; time seemed to slow down as his mental processes accelerated.

Through the smoke, explosions, tracer rounds, the visible enemy had nearly reached the Terran line in spite of the attrition dealt to them. In his stimulated mental state, he was able to aim his gun at leisure, targeting one zergling through the smoke and killing it with an accurately traced burst of fire, then shifting to the next and killing it with similar ease. His comms erupted with screams of pain and death from other infantrymen that were immediately cut off as spines and acid were shot ruthlessly into the infantry lines. Another thundering crack of artillery fire. The thor fired its arm cannons again in quick succession.

Something caught his attention, but even as he moved rapidly to shift his facing and aimed weapon in its direction, it was there, and too late to stop: A baneling.

The explosion of acid killed every soldier near it. Sergeant Ambrose was hit with a spattering of it as well, and the small droplets ate through his armor with ease. His rifle had been dissolved at a vital point and rendered useless. Searing pain from the acid's corrosion burned into his arms as his suit's leg servos failed and he collapsed backward on the ground.

As his stim shot waned, pure adrenalin shot him away from unconsciousness and into acute focus as he observed the scene through his visor. His back had hit something solid, keeping him in a sitting position. The thor had been hit with a different baneling, which ate away most of its foot and caused it to collapse into a tilted posture. In spite of this, it continued to fire into the zerg ahead of it. The attackers had been extremely thinned out, and in spite of heavy human losses, the zerg assault had been broken as the stragglers were picked off by the light Garrison infantry behind them.

And then more zerg appeared; a swelling of reserves that rendered the Terrans' tactical victory pointless. Just his luck, that the hybrid would concentrate most of its forces into one bottleneck, and it would be this one out of dozens. The thundering stride of an ultralisk sent tremors through the asphalt. He looked in the direction of this second wave, and saw the massive creature at the head of the zerg attack. Then he looked around, only seeing an immobile thor and handful of soldiers from their former blockade. The artillery was intact as well, but it wasn't close to enough.

The ultralisk shrugged off the thor's barrage, not slowing down as the projectiles, and then artillery shells grazed over and impacted on its thick armor. John Ambrose drew a pistol from a holster strapped around his suit's leg. Still immobile in a sitting position and delirious from his injuries, he shakily leveled the small weapon at the fast-approaching ultralisk, and fired.

The ultralisk was destroyed in a savage succession of explosions that fissured its carapace and sent its abundant blood and organs in all directions, painting the streets and buildings to the left and right. More explosions behind it hammered the second zerg wave. He looked upward, where his visor's IFF sensor detected a squadron of cloaked banshees making a pass over the broad street. A second banshee squadron, coming from the opposite direction passed under the first squad and unleashed a second carpet bombing with adept timing and coordination.

* * *

Admiral Horner had observed this battle, having directed the banshee squadrons to caret bomb the street as soon as the zerg concentrated there. The blockade had held out long enough for them to arrive. There was a standing order to deploy reinforcements to any road block that took heavy losses, and the Hyperion's command and control structure had taken to this task.

The hybrid had attempted a concentrated breakout. It was anticipated, but nonetheless worrying that it didn't lead its own assault. Within the quarantined zone, there remained a large number of civilians who had barricaded themselves inside buildings. Protecting them was a priority, both per their general duty to protect civilians and in order to deny the hybrid a source of biomass, but it was necessary to prioritize; the zerg breaking out into the wider city would be far worse, and so the Core Fleet's enclosure strategy had to take a deliberate pace

"Admiral, we have a problem." An intel officer spoke up from his console. "The hybrid is not moving through the undercity along our predicted route."

The reserve units of the lightly equipped garrison had been sent to the tightly packed lower city to pressure the hybrid into a designated path of least resistance, where a trap awaited it. "Where is it headed now?"

"The… Zerg Embassy, it would appear."

"Open a comm channel to Ambassador Izsha."

The screen activated with a video feed. Izsha turned, noticing the now lit screen next to her and faced it properly. _"What is it you require, Admiral Horner?"_

"Izsha, the hybrid is trying to breach our encirclement in the direction of your building. Is there a particular reason why?"

" _My elite brood is more than adequate to repel an attack from that creature."_ She said.

Another voice interjected on Izsha's end, _"I know why, point the lens at me, Izsha."_

A thick talon tapped on the video pod and pivoted it downward to view Saraslha, seated at a table and looking slouched, dejected and considerably taller than she used to be. Horner was mildly confused at how different her appearance had become. Saraslha spoke: _"The Hybrid wants to kill me, because I sliced her head off at the Grey Mesa, but then GenTek repaired her, and…"_

"Hold on…" Horner raised a hand. "This is the same hybrid you claim to have killed?"

" _Yeah, but she's a lot stronger now 'cause she found something to eat. There's a significant cache of resources on the warehouse level of GenTek Central. That's probably where her hive cluster is."_

Horner immediately looked to another comms officer, who nodded at this new information and immediately got to work.

He returned to looking at the screen. "How do you know all this, Saraslha?"

" _Because…"_ Her voice tone was dispassionate; zombie-like as she continued to slouch over the table. _"This whole mess is my fault. I didn't revive Niadra, but I am the reason she got released."_

Matt Horner sobered at this. There was clearly a long story behind what she said, but she was being honest, so he would as well. "People are dying out there, Saraslha.

A sharp inhale as she pinched her forehead, sagging more. _"I know…"_ Then she continued speaking. _"You have a job to do, Admiral. You know the Hybrid wants to kill me, work with that knowledge."_ The transmission ended.

Horner was left with several seconds to process this before another deck officer spoke. "Admiral, you really need to see this…"

"Put it on screen."

A live display of the orbital traffic above Augustgrad, the giant Protoss warship was in motion, pivoting its facing until its bow was aimed toward the planet.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this, Artanis?" Emperor Valerian was inside the palace's command and control center, eyeing the Protoss from across the table. "Why is your ship moving?"

" _I have listened to the conversation in this room. You require the Hybrid's course be directed away from the Zerg Princess, is that correct?"_

"Indeed it is. Do you have a solution in mind?"

Artanis raised a fist. _"The Burning Spire carries a sizable retinue of warriors. They are aware of the Hybrid and its Zerg, and are eager to eliminate them."_

Protoss reinforcements. As Valerian weighed this in his mind, it dawned on him; he knew what Artanis was trying to communicate. "You... can warp your warriors into the lower city, much faster than we can airdrop heavy forces. They can redirect the Hybrid."

" _Indeed, the Hybrid has shown itself to be highly mobile, and willing to make tactical retreats. If faced with Daelaam warriors, it will change its course or perish."_ He shook his head. _"However, our aid comes with a price."_

Destroying the hybrid as soon as possible would save untold numbers of people, "name it." Valerian said.

The Hierarch had raised a single finger, _"firstly, that the remains of this hybrid, and of any future hybrid killed or captured by your Dominion be turned over to us."_

Valerian knew exactly where he was coming from on this. Many hybrid were born from reckless projects performed by humans. This outbreak was no different. The Daelaam would be more responsible custodians of their biological material and remnant population. "Agreed," he said, nodding upward. "Anything else?"

Another finger came up, _"You will agree to vacate your colony on Argos Twelve-B. While recent evidence makes it no longer disputed that humans settled on that moon first, a thousand years ago it was occupied by the Firstborn. We have a historical claim over the system."_

Valerian twitched at this. He badly wanted to debate him on it. By the standard Artanis was using, the Protoss would have a historical claim over nearly everything. However... "Agreed as well. The Argos system is yours." He was going to take a PR hit for this. Displacing 9,000 colonists to a different fringe world over a diplomatic treaty with aliens was not good optics, but the current emergency took priority.

" _Then it is done."_ Artanis lowered his hand. _"Where are my warriors needed?"_

"Right around here." A comms officer spoke up as Artanis faced the 3D render of the city and a cursor appeared on it. "This is the hybrid in the lower city, and here is its predicted course." He pointed to a convoluted line beneath the top plate. "We need to intercept it here."

At this spot, a concentrated energy signature; a pylon appeared.

* * *

Saraslha walked the streets of the quarantined zone of the city, above the top plate. With the help of the first-aid gauntlet, her injuries had fully recovered in this short time. The center area of the quarantined zone was eerily quiet; Niadra's fighters were either pushing back against the blockade or maneuvering in the lower city, leaving only token patrols in the surface area around GenTek Central.

A squad of three hydralisks rounded a street corner and detected her, she launched into flight, gaining altitude as she strafed toward the outer wall of a building. One of the hydralisks nailed her center of mass with a spine, which buried halfway in and caused pain as other spines narrowly missed due to inaccurate guesswork in their predictive aim at her flight path.

She dove down toward them, moving with a gravity-assisted speed as the spines continued to miss. As she landed in front of a hydralisk, it lashed at her with a clawed hand. It was fast, but as a being only a fraction its mass, Saraslha was faster. After tilting her upper body to evade the attack, her gauss shotgun discharged, blowing away most of its head.

A large brain consumed a lot of energy, especially on a zerg, but her possession of one privileged Saraslha with a suite of combat instincts and innately-known tactics well above the common brood. The cold, unfeeling mechanism of her gun had already racked its next shell, and as the still-flying blood and body parts of the first hydralisk cleared away, she took a shot at the next, killing it as well. The third and final hydralisk closed in to melee from her flank, she continued her previous evasion, dropping her entire body limp to evade and laying on the ground as she raised the muzzle of her gun into the crevasse shielded by its large head. The discharge blew its body in half.

With the coast clear, a strike force of friendly zerg along with a terran in medic armor and another terran with cloaking engaged rounded the corner and caught up to her. It was Tosh, Keid and a portion of Izsha's brood. Adorned on Saraslha's head was Izsha's psi insulator, which hid her from the hybrid and any telepathy, but which also necessitated Izsha's control of the zerg from the safety of the embassy.

Keid reached Saraslha as she was pulling the spine out of her gut. He fired the first-aid beam at her, which burned the open wound shut and forced the carapace to reconnect in the split area. _"I can just as easily fix Tosh and Izsha's zerg. You don't have to put yourself at risk."_

The terran healing device was crude and not intended for zerg, but the haphazard manner in which it sterilized infection and prodded tissue to bond together in vaguely the shape it was meant effectively expedited a zerg's natural self-repair. Saraslha spoke. "I'm humanoid so it works well on me. Besides, it's another half kilometer to reach the Chronos and I don't want to take losses."

"It's a good arrangement." Tosh remarked. "The Princess' growth spurt's made her real quick. I've got her covered from a distance."

With the repair complete on Saraslha's abdomen, Keid shut off the beam. _"You're certain Rindell is still stuck in its brain?"_

She nodded and moved on as her entourage followed. "It's the only explanation for why she didn't contact me at the embassy." Her head shook. "I knew from the start that having her use the avatar technique on the Chronos was a risk..." She looked back at Keid as she walked. "The brain is the part you worked on, yes?"

" _Correct, and it might be possible to tweak it with the scalpel laser- a device already designed to work through armor."_

"My gal's trapped consciousness will be in your hands, Marchen."

* * *

"The deterrent was successful, Admiral. The hybrid has evaded engagement with the Protoss force, and is moving away from the Embassy."

"And its most probable next destination?" Horner said.

"Its hive cluster, in GenTek Central." The comms officer said.

"Get me the schematics of that building." A 3D map of the building appeared in the star map projector. Horner took a pen and indicated the floor above the warehouse space housing the hive cluster. "The Daelaam can deploy a force here, fitting a pylon in the corridors, then head down the service stairways and attack the hive cluster. Send this suggestion to the Palace CNC room."

* * *

Artanis had accepted this suggestion, and when he did, he ordered the Burning Spire to recall him. High Executor Selendis was waiting for him aboard the large vessel's teleportation deck. He walked calmly out of the allotted floor space and headed toward a separate staging area.

She walked beside him, speaking. _"As you've ordered, a nexus point has been established in the lower city, and our observers are sweeping the area for zerg biomass. The Hybrid is retreating toward its first identified hive cluster, located within a large Terran structure that runs to ground level. The force you've ordered to infiltrate the structure will be deployed shortly."_

" _Well done,"_ He nodded as they walked, heading into a corridor whose floor sloped upward in a slight incline. _"I will lead that attack myself."_

" _Hierarch…"_ Her face darted in the other direction as her brow twitched, but her composure maintained as her face calmed. _"Praetor Mardok has been assigned that task."_

" _Mardok is a fine warrior, but a hybrid of this nature has never been encountered, and I wish to evaluate the threat personally."_

Her agitation at this maintained itself, but managed not to show. _"I must once again suggest firing the Solar Manifest."_

" _No."_

" _Its power is more than adequate to purge the Terran city's infested district."_

" _It would kill thousands of their people in the process; our relations with the Dominion would be in tatters."_

" _Swift purification would ultimately save more of their kind. With time, they would accept that truth."_

" _I concur, but it would be too much time, with too little it would require Zagara to sieze upon our division and invade."_

" _You truly believe their help is required to defeat the Swarm?"_

" _It betters our chances."_

" _I… know it is not my place to advise you on matters not pertaining to war, however…"_

His head turned to look at her. They reached the staging area, where two columns of poleaxe-wielding zealots had assembled. Another column of Dragoons was forming on the right flank, along with a fourth column of Immortal heavy mechs. " _Speak freely, Selendis."_

" _Your critics say you have an irrational affection toward xeno species. That you put undue faith in the Terrans, in spite of their being unprincipled primitives."_ They stopped walking, facing each other.

" _My critics are entitled to that viewpoint, and it may be correct."_ He said. _"Our aid in the current crisis is conditional. We'll return to Aiur with gains to show for it."_

" _I understand, Hierarch, it is simply…"_ She looked off now, unable to curb per perturbment and fully accepting his invitation to speak freely. _"I feel you are… gentle, combine that with your propensity to throw yourself in harm's way…"_

" _Gentle…"_ He said aloud. _"That is the second time this day, in which that trait has been attributed to me."_ Artanis blinked slowly. _"It is true, Selendis. I am gentle. When Aiur was reclaimed, I wandered into its woodlands alone, absorbing the sound of its wildlife, the very air. It felt as though a long-dead part of me was brought to life again. I could have sat in that place and been content forever."_

As he spoke, his voice elevated until all warriors in the staging area could hear. He turned and walked away from Selendis, between a Zealot column and the Immortals. _"But as I sat in that place of tranquility, a vision came to me."_ He ignited the warp blade from his right arm brace, holding it before himself as its green light colored his face. _"An abstract blade, an instrument that took life with cold, unfeeling fervor; an instrument of ruin and calamity."_

He reached the other end of the columns, and turned around to face the amassed warriors. _"In that place of tranquility, I embraced that vision; that ruinous blade. With the conviction that to preserve what I cherish, I must visit death on those who threaten it."_ With his warp blade, he pointed outward. _"In the bowels of the Terran city below, there lies a Hybrid of a variance we've never seen. This creature, should it escape, will be able to propagate its race and multiply. Such an event must not be allowed to occur."_ He slashed his warp blade through the air. _"It must be destroyed! For Aiur!"_ From his left arm brace, he ignited his psi blade, complementing the warp blade in his right.

" _For Adun!"_ The first warriors of the first column were enveloped in a controlled energy field, preparing their physical mass for near-instantaneous warp. During Artanis' brief speech, a Pylon had been discreetly sent to the target area. Seconds later, Artanis himself was enveloped in an energy field. His view of the Burning Spire's Khalai architecture was washed over with blue and white, and then black. The next instant he was standing in a dark, metallic corridor, next to a Pylon whose blueish glow was the only source of light in the depowered building.

Quiet, dark, cold. Artanis advanced through this corridor away from the pylon, his glowing blades and the crystals in his armor lighting the floor and walls.

And then an echo; a concentrated horde of zerg amassed ahead. He stopped, and adopted a fighting stance.

Zealots to his left and right became visible, forming a line and adopting fighting stances of their own. Then the floor echoed even more loudly with the tremoring footsteps of an Immortal whose warp transfer had completed. It came up behind them, its mighty cannons at a higher elevation than their heads, and took a shot at the charging zerg.

Perfectly round holes appeared in the zerg struck by its projectiles, visible for an instant before their bodies were projected over the floor in broken wrecks of blood and bone. The overall horde was not deterred; it was never deterred. And as the frontmost throng of zerglings approached Artanis and his battle line, the Protoss broke rank and charged, equally unafraid.

* * *

"Pause the footage." Admiral Horner was viewing a recording of the attempt at a concentrated breakout made by the Hybrid's brood. An analyst had seen an anomaly, and judged it worth escalating up the chain.

The still video frame was an overhead view, and the anomaly was clear: One zergling among dozens, its coloration different, and as the analyst zoomed in on it, causing the system to emphasize its resolution with more data from the archived recording, more new features became apparent; its body shape was off, with accentuated bone under its flesh in lieu of horns and spikes. "These look like… Protoss features." Horner said aloud.

"It's already started." Another officer stated. "The Hybrid has already begun modding its strains."

The situation had become dire in Horner's mind. If the Daelaam found out about this, they would fire their Solar Manifest on the quarantine zone without hesitation. In a transmission, Executor Selendis had assured him it would be a last resort, but a reproducing hybrid already unlocking its potential would merit crossing that threshold in her view.

"New orders, sir?" He heard an officer ask.

An inhale, "No, continue the course. Advance the encirclement; scan and sweep the compromised structures one by one."

"Admiral…" The officer said. "If our land divisions are attacked by an army of enhanced Zerg, the battle line could break."

Horner knew this, but nonetheless. "The Hybrid is a cornered animal." He declared. "If not the Daleaam, then by the Core Fleet, it will be destroyed, and it will happen very soon." He had to put up a face.

Overwhelming force, deployed immediately and with extreme prejudice. That was the protocol for a rogue zerg controller. Was that protocol compromised by his hesitation to bombard the infested district? Would the Zerg break out, and a far greater loss of human life occur on account of his idealistic decision-making? He couldn't think about that now, and the doubts he had on his mind did not show outwardly.

* * *

" _Hierarch, we stand ready to sever the final floor beams."_

Artanis saw the melting cuts all along the metallic floor, made by the psi blade heads of his poleaxe-wielding Zealots. The building's schematics had been committed to memory, and so they knew exactly where the floor's support beams ran, and where along the floor to cut and sever them. Additionally, they knew they were right above the Hybrid's main hive cluster.

The floor was littered with blood and bodies; Zerg blood, and the acid-eaten half-bodies of a squad of Zealots who'd tanked a Baneling. The Zerg losses were far heavier, and Artanis' attack force remained strong. _"Proceed."_ He said.

The positioned warriors buried their poleaxes into the floor, steadily running them through the steel below. As they did, the flooring underneath the entire Daelaam strike force groaned. Artanis felt the slight sensation of negative G-force as it abruptly dropped a foot, the final support beams bending and catching before they would break.

And then freefall. His view of the dimly lit corridor gave way to the cavernous warehouse level as they fell. The severed chunk of floor hit an uneven surface below, tilting before making its final impact.

They were in the heart of the Hive Cluster, and with a gleefully triggered aggression, the Protoss Warriors leaped straight to shooting, slashing, bleeding and crushing the large, stationary organisms. Artanis darted past, ready to intercept and kill any burrowed guards or recalled zerg which could appear.

There was no resistance, not even a spine crawler hindered his warriors as they mercillessly cut and blasted the stationary organisms comprising the Hive Cluster and its drones, which had been making rounds to cracked open containers containing unprocessed mineral slabs. Their tactic was a resounding success; the Hybrid did not anticipate a 3-dimensional attack trajectory in an indoor environment.

And then one of his warriors was killed; out of view but felt through their telepathic link. A concentrated ball of energy had gone right through an Immortal's shields, then its armor, killing its pilot and rendering the machine limp. The pilot did not have time to utter a word.

The Hybrid appeared, and as Artanis' warriors turned their attention to it, it ignited a long psi blade in its right arm. The first Zealot to reach it in his charge had to instincitvely change posture, blocking the Hybrid's blade with the head of his polearm. But the kinetic force of the slash was too great, and his arms were forced to collapse in their grip on his weapon as the blade slashed through his shields, and then deep into his armor as the hit knocked him off his feet and sent him flying.

Artanis blinked through space, appearing in midair just next to the Hybrid's blade arm and in a posture to make a compound slash with both his blades. He would only have the element of surprise once, and Hybrid were well-known for their resilience. He had to use this chance to cripple its ability to fight as much as possible.

His warp blade went through the creature's carapace like butter, but the slash didn't go deep. Vertigo derived from his own awkward perspective delayed his deduction of why; the Hybrid noticed his attack, and shifted its arm away from his cut until it was a safe distance from the blade.

And then Artanis was struck in the torso by the elbow of same rebounding arm bypassing under his blades. The blow had a similar effect to the Zealot. He felt his armor try to bend, cracking in its seams as it strained to absorb the blow. The next thing he felt was a hard impact on the metallic floor as he bounded at high velocity, rolling to a prone position a good 30 meters from the Hybrid.

It had ony been 4 seconds since the Hybrid made its presence known. Four remaining immortals had spun their turrets and shot the Hybrid, their deadly projectiles impacting on the psionic shield and draining its energy reserve. Antimatter bolts from 7 Dragoons fired in salvo. All remaning Zealots charged the creature without fear.

Niadra's wings spread, and she shot into the air, taking an elevated position in the high-ceilinged warehouse. The Zealots couldn't reach her, and as the next salvo of Dragoon bolts shaved away the last of her shield, she raised her left hand and fired another energy ball, killing one and reducing their number to 6.

And then a green glow appeared faintly in the backdrop. The color of banelings.

* * *

Selendis observed these events from the bridge of the Burning Spire. This wasn't the first time the Hierarch had left her in charge and taken to the battlefield personally, but the escalated risk to his life brought by the unclassified Hybrid and the battlefield's isolated setting was nerve-wracking. After Aiur had been retaken and she was freed from Amon's control, she had been informed that he'd done something similar on Ulnar, facing off against multiple Hybrid with only a tentative, temporary alliance with the Queen of Blades as backup. Artanis was a great leader in her mind, but he retained a youthful enthusiasm that might be his undoing.

A hand hovered over an information feed. Being in command of the ship, Selendis could recall all Daelaam forces deployed in the quarantine zone and then destroy it with the Solar Manifest. It would only require the broadcast of two simple orders, and Artanis would not have time to countermand it from the warp chamber. However… actually doing this was unthinkable. The Hierarch's orders were clear; firing the Manifest was a last resort, and he would no doubt acquire the humans' consent.

"… _Helplessness."_ A telepathic voice came to her.

" _Who is this?"_ Selendis asked. _"And how… how do you see into my mind, to know my feeling?"_

" _Despite the savagery of my kind, we are natural empaths, whether to feel the fear, the terror, the suffering of our victims, the joy of our rulers… or you, whose feeling is identical to mine. Helplessness."_

" _You're…"_ The dots connected in her head. _"You're a zerg."_

" _I am Broodmother Rindell, and I wish for nothing more than to destroy the Hybrid; the worm who has harmed my master. But I am trapped in a metallic shell with limited options."_

The metallic shell of the capital ship around her vivified in Selendis' mind. _"That is how our minds have found each other. In this moment, they are similar."_

" _The control we each have over our metallic shells is limited, in my case by technicality, and in yours by authority."_

" _I… cannot disobey the Hierarch, even if it enables him to risk his life."_

" _Because you are his gal, correct?"_ Rindell's voice said.

" _I don't know what that means."_

"… _Forgive me, I am projecting. Your master is in danger. Mine is attempting to free me of my limitations, little does she know it is a fruitless effort."_

More than anything, as a window out of the helpless situation of being unable to aid Artanis, she wanted to maintain this connection. _"What are you able to do?"_

" _I can make several warps through space, to any location in the city. But my vessel's power cunduction will be crippled after the first few jumps, given my unintended control. I have kept these warps in reserve, remaining motionless."_

" _You can make a Warp Jump, just after a previous one?"_ Selendis said curiously.

" _Within one second, yes. I have used the Avatar technique on a Terran cyborg; the Chronos."_

A warp drive with such a brief cooldown had to come with a crippling limitation, such as a lack of range. Terrans were fond of developing annoyingly inelegant technologies. However… _"You could warp yourself into the hybrid, and transport it someplace else."_

" _I have entertained this plan, but even were I to bring it into the firing field of the Dominion's Battlecruisers, the Hybrid would most likely survive and flee back into the undercity."_

No… Not Terran ships. Selendis broadcast an order to her colossal capital ship. Its bow turned, away from the city and toward the outer edge of Korhal. _"There is a reason our minds found each other this day, Broodmother Rindell. You can help me protect the Hierarch. In any other circumstance I would consider you an infection to be purged."_

" _Ditto."_

" _I am sending you a location, an area of effect."_ The Burning Spire completed its pivot, aiming its bow just above the planet's atmosphere. _"Bring the Hybrid to this place, and it shall taste oblivion."_

* * *

Artanis blinked vertically into the air, to the Hybrid's rear flank. Its arm moved to hammer him once again, but his blades were ready. The large arm was impaled into his psi and warp blades, and as gravity took its course and pulled him toward the floor down below, he separated his blades, slicing the creature's arm off at its elbow.

Its howls of pain, the spray of blood coming out of the severed area which splashed on Artanis' face and armor, he ignored this as he blinked once again, behind one of its wings.

He and the creature fell to the floor, and one severed wing glided across the cavernous warehouse level of the structure, flipping and tossing from the imbalance of no longer being attached to the hybrid.

The Hybrid's psi blade, on its remaining arm swiped Artanis. He moved his own psi blade to parry, and the impact sent him away from the Hybrid during their fall.

He landed on his feet, a grim expression on his brow and his mind set to a ruthless drive to kill. He was right to face this creature in person. It was far stronger than anticipated. It landed on the ground more gently, cushioning its own fall through telekinesis.

" _What are you..?"_ He heard its rough, decidedly effeminate voice in his mind.

Artanis stood among the corpses of the attack party he had outlived; the floor melted through from Baneling acid. With each beat of his hearts, the abstract vision flashed before him of the blade, the blade of death and ruin. His own hands holding it. _"You will never know."_ He said, walking calmly toward the wounded monster, his psi and warp blades held aside with a perfect confidence. The creature's speed caught him by surprise once, but now he knew, and now it had no chance. It had killed his warriors, with all remaining having retreated through emergency recall, but the Hybrid had no aid coming. The fallen had given their lives to reveal the creature's abilities, and now they would be avenged.

The creature gripped its severed arm, stopping the bleeding. With its remaining wing folded, it stumbled back out of fear of the Protoss only a fraction its size.

Artanis stopped, keeping his distance and watching. His experience told him the creature was acting helpless; that it was ready to land a killing blow if he closed in with his own. With an iron discipline holding back his bloodlust, he remained idle.

Minutes passed. Echoes of the battle outside grew louder as they vibrated through the city superstructure to which the building was attached. The Hybrid's arm and wing showed no signs of regenerating; a fatal flaw in its hybridization, or a sign of exhaustion he didn't know, but as the minutes passed, Artanis' shields reconstituted and he felt his physical and psionic stamina return to him. Every moment they bided their time, his advantage only grew.

The Hybrid Spoke, _"Please… Allow me to live."_

Begging for its life? Artanis was surprised, but not deterred. The Hybrid were abominations. And this one was a rogue Swarm controller. It had to die. He said nothing.

" _Is it difficult to believe that I am half-Protoss? That I am equally capable of acting upon that nature, as I am of acting on that of the Zerg?"_

" _The Hybrid are the spawn of Amon; extensions of his will. You have nothing in common with my kind."_ Artanis said.

" _I know nothing of the one you call Amon."_

This was true. Amon had nothing to do with this Hybrid's creation; it had free will. Nevertheless. _"Your actions condemn you."_

" _I was imprisoned, tortured, operated on with impugnity. When I was at last granted freedom, I was beset with hostility on all sides, forced to defend my existence. All I desire is escape from this planet."_

" _Enough!"_ He shouted. _"Your words ring hollow as the bodies of my brethren lay around me. We are at war, and I must kill you. That is your reality, and I care not whether you accept it."_ In any other situation, he would be open ot a plight of this nature. He was a natural diplmat, he craved understanding, and a Hybrid that was free of Amon's thrall could well be an entity he could leave in peace.

But for the abstract blade, the blade of ruin he'd embraced. Nothing could deter him from the drive to kill once he'd convinced himself this creature was a threat to the world his people paid so dearly to keep. It would die, and its potential to breed would not bring ruin to Aiur in a future either iminent or distant, thanks to his ability to be cruel.

A warp space exit occurred in the open air above them. It was the Chronos; the metallic oval whose circumference of arms opened as gravity carried it down to impact on the floor; on the Hybrid itself.

It looked up in surprise, and Artanis charged.

The Hybrid dove out of the way, away from Artanis as its remaining wing propelled the motion.

Another tactical warp.

The Hybrid was caged inside the Chronos' arms as they grabbed her in their enclosure. Its sword-arm was pinned to aim outward, and its remaining wing had reverted to daggered tentacles which flailed vainly against the machine's armor, shearing it away with no immediate effect. Artanis saw this and realized that the tentacles were the trick up its sleeve.

Another tactical warp, and the Hybrid and Chonos were gone.

Artanis was left alone in the hangar, and it was only seconds before a warp field came over him. He didn't recall ordering a recall, but at this point it didn't matter.

The teleportation deck became visible, bustling with activity on account of the fighting still happening below. Nobody took particular note of him as they focused on their tasks. In this familiar, safe territory, Artanis let his posture sink. Cuts and burns littered his body, with nearly a third of his armor's mass either broken off or evaporated. The Hybrid's physical strike had broken several ribs, and all of this was pain he easily ignored in the heat of battle, but now had to be felt and accounted for.

He straightened again, determined not to allow his injuries to make him look vulnerable or undignified. The voice of a ship operator asked him to head to the forward viewing deck, and he obliged this request.

When he reached the deck, he could see the length of the Burning Spire's bow, aimed well above Korhal's upper atmosphere with the planet's curved mass dominating the view on his right. He could sense the ship's energy fluctuations; the concentration of thermal energy being formed. From this, he knew that his executor had ordered the Solar Manifest be fired. It would barely miss the planet's atmosphere, shooting well above the concentrated ring of orbital structures. It was a clear shot, unsafe, but clear.

"… _It is done. An ally is bringing the Hybrid into our firing radius. No trace of it will remain."_

He looked to his left, and saw Selendis standing beside him. There was a pause, and with no words, he looked ahead again, then lifted an arm to see his damaged armor and charred skin. _"Speak freely, Selendis. I wish to know your opinion."_

" _You've done what you felt was right, Hierarch… As have I."_

* * *

Rindell, inside the Chonos' brain and body, had warped out of its resting place in the streets in front of GenTek HQ and into its warehouse level, leaving Saraslha & party baffled that it acted before they had even done anyhting to it.

Every control she exerted over this foreign body released unfamiliar brainwaves and increased the risk that the machine's rejection mechanisms would override everything and force it into lockdown.. She didn't have many moves, and before her communication with Selendis she had kept them in reserve, waiting for an opportunity.

In the Warehouse level she detected the Daelaam Hierarch and the Hybrid Niadra, both badly injured from fighting each other. Another tactical Warp brought the Chronos on top of Niadra with its arms cloistered neatly around her body. Its warp drive's cooldown was remarkable, and as the Hybrid flailed on its metallic body with her tentacles, Rindell warped again, taking Niadra with her.

* * *

David Kuraski was tied to a chair, and the room was too dimly lit to see. He heard human footsteps, accompanied by the stink of Zerg biomass.

When he anticipated Saraslha's assault on his headquarters and relocated, he'd gone to a safehouse. When the Glass Raven returned to Korhal, he'd opted to shuttle to the ship and observe events from there. But his dropship had been intercepted.

The face of the culprit became visible as he walked forward into the light. Alexei Stukov's glowing orifices and damaged face looked down at Kuraski. "It would appear I came to Korhal just in time, to snatch the man I'm looking for. I know what you're thinking." He paced to the left, then right. "How did you get through Korhal's defenses with an unregistered starship?"

"That's the ninth or tenth thing on my mind, currently." Kuraski said.

"We told them we were transporting research samples. That explained the zerg biomass, and they were too busy with the current crisis to do a stop and search."

"Tell me how the hell I'm seeing your face right now." David's voice became forceful. "Vice Admiral."

"An unlikely and convuluted chain of events, what else could it be?" A chair was handed to him, and he plopped it down to sit his knee on it, leaning forward on the backrest. "It's good to see you as well, Captain."

His brow sank at this as he looked down. "You… want to know why I'm still alive as well."

"Yes."

He looked up to meet his eyes. "In all its history, Earth has never been meritocratic, at least never for long. To be anything under the Directorate, go any place other than a dirt farm or factory, you had to distinguish yourself in the military. I knew I was gifted with genius, I knew what I had to offer Humanity, so I adapted. I let my mind be numbed through training, licked all the correct boots and through the years, moved through the ranks. For a time, I told myself, I would ply my gift in service to the military."

"And then Gerard transferred you to his fleet. The Koprulu expedition happened shortly after."

"During the Battle of Char Aleph, DuGalle had taken command of his fleet and I saw the writing on the wall. I knew we were going to lose, so I deserted. My crew went their separate ways. The Dominion was rebuilding, and I was isolated from the Directorate, so I adapted again. You'd be amazed how easy it was to grow a company in a nation that had to rebuild everything and replace all its knick knacks."

"You became a Dominion citizen, and upper-crust at that." Stukov's head was shaking. "I'm jealous."

Kuraski leaned back in his chair. "Think what you will of Arcturus Mengsk, if you were creating billions in economic activity and paying off his goons, he left you alone. That's more than I can say for the busybodies on Earth."

"It feels good to catch up, doesn't it, Captain?"

"You've become a freak, Stukov."

"True enough." He shrugged. "Let's move on: Why did you try to kill Saraslha?"

"The Directorate asked me to. I rationalized from there."

"You reestablished contact with them, then?"

"Limited contact. It takes time for our messages to reach each other."

"Does anybody in your company know?"

"The Directorate is referred to as our 'distant associates.' Nobody except me knows any more than that."

"I see…" Stukov stood and began pacing again. "The major powers are talking to each other and sending people over. That's a vulnerability in many ways. The right death in the right place could start a war, and if the Directorate is keen on that, then they must still have their sights on Koprulu."

"The propaganda is no longer about 'reclaiming a lost colony,' Stukov." Kuraski said, intent. "They've studied the Zerg, and have seen the destructive power of the Protoss. Just like before, they want that power, and will clamp their cold metal fingers around it. The destruction of DuGalle's expedition has struck a nerve; technological advances, military buildup and weapons whose terror can scarcely be described. The response may be delayed by distance, but the Koprulu Sector has awakened a sleeping giant."

"I have mixed sentiments about Earth…" Stukov took a breath. "Why are you telling me all this? You don't know my loyalties; whether I'm controlled by the Swarm."

"It doesn't matter if you know. The hammer is coming down whether it's visible or not."

"You're still on the Directorate's side, then?"

"I'm on Humanity's side. The best outcome in my view is the Dominion being peacefully annexed, though it may not happen as smoothly as I hope."

"And how's your private war going?"

"Saraslha has lost. She was… a touch, more cunning that I anticipated, but young people are easy to manipulate."

"Are you certain of that?" Stukov appeared amused. "Last I heard she was sending all your kill attempts packing."

"I've given her a long chain of defensive victories, knowing it would make her confident, knowing she would do something rash. Now she has, and as she scrambles to salvage the situation in the city, my people are gathering evidence and laying some of their own. The blame for this incident will be lain at her feet."

Stukov raised a finger, frowning in thought. "That resembles… the assault on Augustgrad, during the Brood War. You're the one who put that strategy together. We sent in our crack troops, with orders to engage then retreat, even if they were about to break through."

David inhaled, his eyes closed. "Repelled attack after repelled attack." His eyes opened. "Mengsk was so confident he was winning, he sent his deadliest asset; his Battlecruiser fleet, into the open to crush us. But it was a false opening, the bulk of the fleet was lost, and for the rest of the battle Dominion morale was low."

"And Saraslha made the same mistake when she attacked your headquarters."

"She has no idea who I am, and even if she studied that battle, the Dominion would have framed it in a propagandist light which downplayed the Directorate's strategic competence."

"All your bases covered, as always… Except this." Alexei indicated David's predicament, tied to a chair and surrounded by infested Terrans.

"True, I hadnt accounted for my old commanding officer not only still being alive, but present over Korhal. That said, I know you're not going to kill me."

Alexei took out a flask from under his coat. "What makes you so certain of that?"

"Because perhaps you've joined the Swarm for safety and a twisted sense of belonging, but ultimately you're disaffected with authority. You'll do as you please whenever you can get away with it."

"And why would I, personally, want to let you go?"

His brow lifted as though it were obvious. "Saraslha would never forgive you, if you stole her prey."

Alexei stared for several long seconds, then cracked with gut laughter. He gave a hand signal as he turned away.

An infested Terran crouched behind David's chair, and unlocked his handcuffs.

"You're free to go, Captain Kuraski." Stukov walked away, the powered door opening for him and letting light into the room. "Your dropship is in Hangar two."

* * *

With the right positioning and torque, Niadra was able to tear one of the Chonos' arms clean off. Her arm and wing had reconstituted, but the machine's remaining arms maintained a firm grip on her main body.

Another tactical warp.

She was spinning dizzily in space, still gripped by the Chronos with the planet below and the system's star also visible. She aimed her psi blade and made another cut into its body. The Chonos was badly damaged, leaking coolant and synthetic blood as more of its armored shell was sheared away.

But it just. Wouldn't. Die!

Another tactical warp. When they came out, her head was facing the system's star again, but something was not right.

The star was the wrong color. And it was growing larger, from the direction of the Protoss capital ship. It wasn't a star at all—it was a beam of energy coming straight at her!

She sliced into the Chronos with an erupted hysteria. This stupid machine! This wretched thing! She charged an energy ball in her other hand and lobbed it into a hole in its armor, and it was effective. The explosion tore apart its insides, killing the brain. And then its power core exploded, enveloping Niadra in heat and kinetic force.

She emerged from this with only token damage, and now freed from the grip of its arms.

A new wave of heat, 1,000 times that of the Chronos exploding, washed over her. It was too late. The blinding white sea of thermal energy disintegrated Niadra's entire being, from the outside to the inside, in seconds. There was no suffering.


	19. The Hammer Falls

**And here it is: The final chapter of Princess of the Swarm. A whopping 19K words of my blood, guts, metaphor and writing well outside my comfort zone because I'm an already conflict-ridden stoic in real life who craves happy times and heartwarming hugs. Writing this chapter was painful, but the good kind of painful; the worthy kind**

 **I'd like to offer a sincere and heartfelt Thank You to everybody who read this far and put up with the extreme amount of time I've taken to update.**

 **I'd also like to once again give special thanks to Fangtom for the cover art. He drew the protagonist of this book with a fair amount of input from yours truly. Do check out the full body pic at Fangtom1 dot deviantart!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The brood under Zagara's direct control comprised nearly a third of all zerg on Char's surface, atmosphere and orbit. Her control capacity was well over ten times that of the next runner up Broodmother, sixty times that of Rindell and one hundred and eighty of Saraslha. The secret to her vast psionic power was a frequent topic of discussion among the telepathic messaging made by self-aware minds within the Swarm. Zagara regularly picked up on these conversations, and made no effort to interject or suppress them. Let them wonder, she thought, let them learn, let them strive.

Physically, she overlooked Char's landscape from the vantage point of the Primary Cluster as her mind reached out to feel all the Swarm, its colony worlds in different systems, scouting parties in the distant reaches of space, and others which wandered as close to Dominion and Daelaam-controlled worlds as they dared, probing for information, for weakness.

She felt what the Swarm felt, knew what it knew, saw what it saw. As she let her individual mind link with the collective conscious, she easily, naturally released the trained restraint on her psionic power. The Queen of Blades had the ability to buff the constitution and ferocity of all zerg in a small area. Zagara had observed this ability, learned it, and improved vastly upon it.

" _Universal Mutation."_

Every single part of her brood was effected, whatever their location or their distance from Zagara, they became temporarily more resilient and their speed increased; resource gatherers worked faster. Her use in this instance did nothing more than test the ability, as none of her brood was in any form of combat nor had any pressing need for resources. Zagara imagined using this ability in a planetary invasion. A great number of Terran strongholds could be overrun in a single wave, and there would be no need to defeat the Protoss through attrition if a deadly enough strike were made in enough theatres of combat, which Universal Mutation had the power to do if activated at the right time. Its strain on her mind was considerable, but with each new use on each new day it became steadily easier.

Violent thoughts; thoughts of conquest, of dominating the other races rushed through Zagara's mind. She vividly remembered battling the Dark Xel'Naga alongside the Terrans and Protoss, and through the respect this experience had fermented, the idea of pitting her strength agianst theirs was cathartic…

But for the risk. For six years she desired peace because of another urge, even stronger than the will to dominate other life forms; the will to live. Underestimating either of the other races could—and had, proven fatal for rulers of the Swarm in the past. This inhibition was intensified by the unprecedented friendship the End War had fermented between the Daelaam Protoss and Koprulu Terrans.

A flying Cuotl strain, lined with inflated pods filled with Zeta Compound ore passed Zagara's field of view as it flew toward outer space, to eventually reach orbit and then a warp tunnel. This new trade deal with the Dominion brought an influx of useful resources into Zagara's Swarm, which she felt as though vitality entering her own body. She felt stronger, more confident. Perhaps the time to strike was soon… The pendulum in her mind swung back to conquest.

A telepathic pulse was felt from the Khaydarin crystal some distance away in Zagara's communication chamber. Izsha wished to speak to her. Zagara obliged this, heading patiently, naturally to the chamber.

" _What is it, Izsha?"_ The doors behind Zagara sealed shut, darkening the chamber and lending an air of privacy.

" _There has been an incident on Korhal, Broodmother Zagara."_ Izsha said. _"Your daughter has disobeyed you."_

090909090909090909090909090

 **Aftermath**

The first thing Saraslha did after the Hybrid was killed was head back to the Embassy where Rindell's original body existed. She resisted the urge to fly out of the fear it'd make her a target to the aerospace forces still patrolling the skies.

She burst through the front doors into the Embassy's main hall, running past Izsha's guards and heading up the main stairway to the room she and Rindell had previously occupied. There was no telepathic response from Rindell, and this stoked Saraslha's fears. She hoped it would simply be a case of the broodmother being unconscious or sustaining damage to her nervous system.

Saraslha pulled the door open and saw Rindell. She was standing normally on her hexopedal formation of feet. "Rindell," she said, walking up to her. "What… are you alright?"

Rindell's head crooked, ever so slightly. _"All the rights upon a hill in green."_

"Rindell that's incoherent." Saraslha stopped up close to her, her brow twitched, and she let out a forced chuckle and smile. "Come on now, talk normally. I… really need to be sure, you know? Sure that you're alright."

No words, Rindell's head tilted with an impulsive immediacy. Here it stayed, with no indication of Rindell being conscious of it. _"Claw, screen-board-light-threading… Bomb..?"_ The last word had an inquisitorial inflection.

"What the hell's going on?" She wrapped her arms around Rindell's upper body, resting the side of her head on her chest. She felt safe like this, warm. Saraslha let down her mental guard, letting herself connect to Rindell's mind.

And Saraslha started shaking at what she'd found. "This can't be real…" Her teeth clenched. "I didn't… I never would have thought this could happen, never… wanted it to happen."

" _Happening… dampening… lampening?"_

A new telepathic voice, this one quite sane and coherent spoke indifferently to Saraslha. _"You will come to my chamber immediately, Saraslha."_ It was Izsha, _"Broodmother Zagara demands your presence._

09090909090909090909090909090

" _I wish for you to reflect on what I say, Saraslha."_

Saraslha was standing in a room in the Embassy, a small Khaydarin crystal lay on the table. Through its range increase, Saraslha communicated with the Overqueen. Izsha was suspended overhead, observing.

Zagara spoke, _"Your actions have led to distress on the Terrans' world, but that is not my business, and I can forgive what you inflict on life forms outside the Swarm."_

Saraslha's head was low, looking down. "There's a 'but' coming, right?"

" _However,"_

"And there it is."

Zagara's voice elevated. _"Contradicting my direct command cannot be tolerated."_

The tone of Zagara's voice sank into Saraslha's ears, and they stung. "I… didn't mean—"

" _Was my will in some way miscommunicated? Did your advanced brain misconstrue my words for something else, or as a request?"_

Saraslha looked off, wincing uncomfortably. "…No. I deliberately disobeyed you. You told me to let GenTek be, and then I did… the opposite."

" _It is imperative you understand the gravity of what you've done. The Swarm is a unified being, and by contradicting my will, you have separated yourself from it."_

Looking downward, Saraslha's eyes were rigidly widened beads. "Mother… don't—"

" _There can be no leniency."_

"Please…"

" _Saraslha, I sentence you to exile."_

Something snapped. Saraslha stood in place, staring off into nothing. Her eyes were blank, and her voice a monotone. "Mother… I'm sorry…" There was no answer. She heard human footsteps in the room.

Izsha spoke, _"her diplomatic immunity is void. You may take her, Officer."_

Somebody grabbed Saraslha's wrists and turned them behind her back, she did not resist. "Princess Saraslha, you're under arrest on charges of property damage, unlawful transaction, violation of house arrest and involuntary manslaughter." A pair of steel cuffs were locked around her wrists. "It is advised you reserve your misgivings for public trial, and after you've received legal consultation. Is that understood?"

"Yeah…" She continued staring off into space, her voice lifeless and her posture submissive. She didn't care where she was being taken. Rindell was lost to her, and she hadn't even begun to process what her mother just did. She didn't care about anything right now.

"Alright, let's go." He turned her around, where she saw two garrison troops with rifles leveled at her. "And try not to break my damn cuffs." They walked past the guards, who fell in behind.

0909090909090909090

It had been 3 hours since the end of the crisis, wherein the Protoss ship fired its main weapon over the skies of Korhal, annihilating the Hybrid. Seeing this brought with it fearful speculation of the damage it could have caused had the weapon been fired at the surface, but this hypothetical scenario was waylaid by reports of the very real damage and death toll caused by the Hybrid's zerg.

"The last reports just came in. We have the body count."

Admiral Horner hadn't left his bridge since the crisis began. He refused to pull the military out of the city until every last rogue zerg biomass reading was followed up and eliminated, no matter how small. "How many?" He asked the intel officer.

"A thousand four hundred and two civilian deaths, with another hundred fifty five in critical condition."

"And military casualities?"

"Smaller, though not surprisingly given the scenario. Fifty two dead and a hundred seventy eight wounded. Twenty four heavy armor vehicles destroyed, as well as fourteen combat walkers. Only the handful of concentrated breakout attempts dealt noticable losses to our ground forces. Aerospace casualties are zero."

Horner took a deep breath, stoically absorbing this.

"Plus there are paramilitary casualties sustained by the Garrison, amounting to one hundred and ninety three, all belonging to one battallion."

"How did that happen?" Horner asked clinically.

"According to reports, the earliest wave of zerg slammed into the first response of this Garrison battallion on Highway Thirteen-B. The militia stood their ground and defeated the attack, but only seven out of their original two hundred survived. This happened just before the Core Fleet deployed heavy forces to the streets."

It occurred to Horner that the battle to contain the hybrid's zerg could have been lost before it even began, if not for the 200 men in question. "That's… remarkable." He said aloud. "The Garrison isn't drilled or equipped near as much as the core military. Most of those men had probably never seen combat."

"The zerg attack they defeated wasn't very large."

"Nevertheless, by all accounts they should have broken and fled…" He exhaled, letting tiredness creep in. "Individual heroism aside, over a thousand civilians are dead. We failed today."

"It… could have been a lot worse, sir." The damage was considerably less than the Moebius raid during the End War.

"That's true, but it's stil unacceptable." He locked his arms to lean over the projector. "There are bureaucratic loopholes which could have been exploited, to bring something that dangerous into the city without the military's knowledge. It's more sludge in the system that needs to be drained." He'd inquired, and even the Ghost Program didn't have intel on a dormant hybrid in the city. There was no way to anticipate this attack. The only bright side he could think of was that the outrage would give the Emperor a public mandate; a political excuse to crack down on whatever bureau let it slip under the radar. Even with reformers at its head, the Dominion found new ways to be corrupt.

"That Zerg Princess probably had something to do with what happened. Word is she's been arrested and will stand trial."

Saraslha was definitely involved, but the facts of that case were murky, and there was her claim to have killed the same hybrid once before. That story matched with evidence found on the Grey Mesa; her severed nerve cords found on the scene were cut by a psi blade, and upon Horner's inquiry, Artanis had confirmed that the hybrid used such a weapon. "If GenTek was behind the hybrid, then her testimony would have been indispensable to nailing them to the wall." Horner said aloud. "But she had to go and…"

09090909090909090909090

"So the old lady exiled you, eh?"

Alexei Stukov was seated across from Saraslha, on the opposite side of a safety glass wall and speaking via microphone in the visitor's space of the solitary confinement ward she'd been sent to await trial.

"My mom is younger than you, and yeah. I can never go home again." Saraslha was uncuffed and unattended. She was taller than before, and newly extended ornate spikes from her elbows and over her shoulders meant the prison staff wouldn't have even tried to make her wear a jumpsuit; it'd get ripped apart. "How is it you're here?"

He looked off, frowning as he searched for words. "My ship was detected, they contacted Izsha before opening fire, and now she's responsible for whatever I do here. I'm…" He rolled a hand in the air, "part of the ambassador's entourage, you could call it?"

"Got it." Saraslha waved this off as her voice changed to a low intensity, and her resting face became a glare. "I'm so freaking mad, Stukov… I can hardly see straight."

"I think a lot of people have reason to be pissed right now."

"Well then great!" She snapped. "My mood is on-message."

His hand raised toward her. "You're not going to do anything crazy, yes?"

"Well I don't know." She looked off. "Maybe I'mma put an army together, storm the hives and high mountains of Char and take my mother's head and throne for myself. That prospect feels real attractive to me right now."

"You're not going to do that."

"Oh, but I might." Her tone shifted to humorless laughter. "I can name a few dozen broodmothers who might side with me…"

"Zagara would win."

"Pft, why let a colossal gap in power get in the way of a good coup?"

Stukov shook his head. "You're acting hysterical, Saraslha."

There was a pause, Saraslha sobered, collecting herself before speaking. "She doesn't give a shit about me, Alexei. She never did. Any caring she may have displayed in the past was an act to keep me in line."

"Getting exiled really shook you up, didn't it?"

"Being exiled by my mother, yeah, it did. I've been… facing some hard truths the last few hours."

"Like that you killed over a thousand people."

She looked off. "I accept one quarter of the blame for that."

"Two hundred and fifty then. It's still a lot of heads on their way to the long dirt nap."

Her breath escaped as she looked downward, wincing. "What should I do, write some… open apology letter?"

"It'd be a nice start."

"To what end?" Her hand absentmindedly tapped on the counter. "Do you think Kuraski is going to do the same?"

He shrugged. "That's up to him."

"Tch, it'd be the end of him if he confessed. Although… Maybe I'll do it." She slouched back, wincing. "Show I'm not a callious bitch like my mom."

"You're just determined to be pissed off at Zagara, aren't you?"

"I'll tell you a story, Stukov, of when I was a year old and yea high." She held a hand 2 feet off the countertop. "I had walking on two legs down pat and my mental ticker was anxious, bored, so mom gave me a toy to play with…" Her palm faced up. "She taught me how to spin genetic sequences. I became obsessed with it, locked away in my room with days going by and full omission of sleep. Five months, six inches of growth and a hill of defective prototypes later I was building strains that didn't die an hour after birthing."

"That's… interesting." Stukov settled in his seat, relaxed. "When my kids were bored I just gave them more chores."

Saraslha stared downward. "When I bugged Abathur enough, he let me borrow genetic material from his essence banks, which are… vast. He doesn't like letting people into his cellar, but damn, you should see it—but I digress."

"What'd you end up making?"

"Cute little pets, of course. One based on the black-tailed jackrabbit native to Earth, and another was a vastly scaled down rendition of the Giant Seafloor Walker. You'd see it and think of a tortoise. These precursors to the Cryolisk and Pyrolisk were friendly, small enough to carry in my arms, and I made them… well, because I wanted a friend. When my mother saw them, though… she killed them, right there on the spot without saying a word to me."

Stukov had a flask out, patiently letting Saraslha tell her story. "That definitely sounds like Zagara." He took a sip.

She inhaled to continue. "Then I got a lecture about how my creations were not suited to survive, and that it was cruel of me to give them a dependent existence with no purpose."

"I find myself won over by that argument."

"If my pets were strong, she would still have been able to kill them herself. If that was really the point she wanted to make, she would have killed my pets with a zergling."

"The message stands. Why obsess over the small details?"

"Because maybe her lesson helped me, immensely. But maybe it's also true that hearing a 'sorry, I was kind of an asshole back there' would mean a freaking lot from my own mother."

"You're upset, and you're looking for excuses to blame Zagara." He indicated her behind the safety glass. "Did she put you in this situation?"

Saraslha leaned forward, intent. "She didn't exile me for insubordination; she just said that to save face. I blame her alright, for choosing her diplomatic position over me."

"You'd do the same in her shoes."

"Maybe I would." She conceded, sitting upright again. "And that's the hard truth I've been facing. The zerg don't take well to sentimentality, we don't have family bonds, and we sure as hell don't use our abilities to create cute pets. Nothing will ever be more important to my kind than power."

"I think I know what you're going through, and It will certainly get worse before it's over. Humans call it puberty."

She looked off again. "Yah, speaking of which, my whole freaking body has been aching since the growth spurt, and my torso armor…" She tapped it with the tip of her claws, causing a high-pitched impact noise. "It's a bit lighter, and it feels like wood."

"Looks like it, too." He observed, looking at its brown texture with a thin black grain that blended into the occasional knot, as though its shape was a work of carpentry rather than biology.

"I took a Hydralisk spine in the chest during the battle, and it went right into my ribcage. They don't…" She looked him in the eyes with a nervous frown. "They don't normally penetrate as deep as that, Alexei. I think this carapace is weaker."

He propped his jawline on his more human hand, thinking. "It must be… a delayed trait."

"Like something lain dormant until a certain point in time?"

"Exactly that. Before you were born, I had overheard Zagara and Abathur talking about it. The Overqueen said that if you lived long enough to reach…" He indicated her. "The growth stage you're at now, new experimental traits would appear which are of dubious utility. The reasoning was that if these traits had a use, you'd have the autonomy and survival incentive to find it."

"Oh, okay." She said in a detached monotone, slouching and looking up. "I really am just an experiment to her."

"On the genetic drawing board, you were referred to as the 'Grub Strain.'"

"What's a grub?"

"Lumpy worms that get eaten a lot."

"Well that's flattering."

"Perhaps she anticipated your massive ego."

She pointed a finger at him, "my ego is just the right size, and to Zagara my spat with Kuraski was just another game like Sephulli. She probably sent me to Korhal knowing someone would try to have me killed."

"You got more than Zagara bargained for with Kuraski."

She became more attentive. "You know him?"

"He's a survivor of the Directorate expedition. It's not well known since the Expedition's relations with every other faction were hostile, but our upset victories at Augustgrad and against the second Overmind are owed in large part to the military prowess of one of our mid-level officers: Captain Kuraski."

"Really…" A hint of wonderment made its way to Saraslha's otherwise stressed eyes, "so he's the victor of that most pivotal battle of the Brood War nobody's written about."

"I wasn't around to witness it either. But apparently the Expedition succeeded in its plan to enslave the Overmind, at least for a while."

"Izsha has a record of it. They used the long range psi disruptor, then landed on Char and outfought three cerebrates at once, it was insane. There was certainly a great strategist in the ranks in the UED."

"That's what you were up against. Now you see why you're in this situation, and why you're set to lose this private war."

Saraslha exhaled as her body deflated. "Don't remind me of that…"

"You always have a plan, little one. There's still a chance to get out of what he has in store for you."

She looked off again. "I don't even know what I want anymore, much less how to obtain it."

Stukov's disposition became dark, intent. "You know damn well who you are and what you want. Don't give me this schtick. You're the prodigy, the kid who outsmarted the legendary Cerebrate -with my help.- You're the Princess of the Swarm."

"I'm an exile, waiting in a cage to be judged by humans." She said with a sullen voice. "And you know what? I deserve to be judged by them. I've wronged them."

His head shook. "A zerg of all creatures should understand: At the end of the day it's about power, not morals. Ability, not principle. The only reason you're going to be judged by these humans is because they have the power to judge you and you haven't the power to resist."

Saraslha shook her head in turn, wincing. "Principle is what creates ability; the two are mutually inclusive." She met Stukov's gaze. "Without rules, without ideas that cannot be violated, then all life, even the Zerg would have evolved to become nothing more than worms slithering in the mud, or parasites feeding off the prosperity of greater life forms."

"You're conflating the humans' government with a set of principles. The two couldn't be more different."

"Yeah, I have no doubt that the trial will be rigged, the jury will be biased and the network of bureaucrats overseeing it only want a scapegoat. That isn't going to stop me from telling the truth."

Stukov's head shook, disappointed. "You'll be dead. What does that accomplish?"

"I don't…" She looked off. "I don't plan on dying."

"It doesn't seem like you've made any plans at all."

Saraslha was silent, still looking off, dispassionate.

Stukov sighed. "Look… It's not like I can't read people. I know that Zagara's implicit support is what fuelled you. Your immense confidence came from the conviction that she approved of you, approved of what you decided to do. And now, that's been ripped away. Am I far off?"

Still looking off, her voice was almost a whisper. "She hates me…"

"No she doesn't."

"She does!..." Saraslha drawled, slouching.

"Still moping…" He shook his head. "I'll you something that'll motivate you."

She became slightly attentive at this. "What's that?"

"There's a war coming, and it's coming soon." He picked up his hat and put it on, ready to leave.

A pause as she thought, "…the Directorate?"

"More pissed and more powerful than ever. When I left all those years ago, the total Directorate forces, including our expedition outnumbered the Dominion's by a factor of ten, and that was just to police its colonies; Earth's military in a minimalist state."

"They could field something… much, much larger than the first expedition if they chose…" Saraslha ruminated. "The Koprulu Sector just can't catch a break, can it?"

"It never will." Stukov's head shook as he turned away from her. "There's too much here, too much knowledge, too much power for anybody to leave it alone."

He walked away, leaving Saraslha alone. Two prison guards entered the room and took her back to her cell.

09090909090909090909090909090

It was a modest bar & grill in the sandy outskirts of the city. Music, firelight and mist filled its wood-themed interior. Keid and Gabriel Tosh, in civvies, sat at the same table 10 feet from a dart board on the wall.

"What are we doin' here, science man?" Gabriel said, seated as he lifted a dart and aimed. He threw and landed a perfect bullseye.

"This is pre-arranged meeting place Echo. Alpha through Delta are compromised." He threw his own dart, it stuck into the wall next to the board.

A live broadcast of the Emperor's public speech was visible and audible on a television suspended from the ceiling. _"I assure you all, the culprit of today's horrific attack on our capital will be identified, and they will be punished to the fullest extent of the law."_

"The client's gonna get in touch, then?" Gabriel threw a second bullseye right next to his first one.

"They should have her in solitary by now…" He checked the clock on his open computer. "So we should get the call any minute."

The Emperor's speech in the background: _"The damage had been minimized thanks to the heroic sacrifice of Garrison Battallion Twelve-Zulu, the rapid response of our Core Fleet, and the timely assistance of our Protoss allies, whose leader Hierarch Artanis personally battled the Hybrid in its lair."_

Gabriel muttered under his breath, oblivious to the television. "'Be faster if I bust her out." A waitress walked by and set their drinks on the table before moving on. Gabriel took his glass and tilted it to swallow everything.

"So…" Keid eyed his second dart, not eager to make a toss. "What kind of things are you into?"

Gabriel exhaled as he set down his glass, "heads."

"Like… coin tosses?"

"Human heads."

"That's interesting." He said. "I can see how veiled threats would be fun as well." He finally threw his dart, it also stuck in the wall near the board.

"Hm?" Gabriel's tone had a sincere perplexity. "I ain't threatening nobody right now."

A Purpletooth on the table began to vibrate. Keid picked it up and set it to speaker phone. "That you, boss?"

" _Marchen,"_ Saraslha's voice said. _"I don't have much time, and my trial is tomorrow."_

"I've compiled a list of prospective lawyers." He opened a page on his laptop. "What kind of trial are you going for..?"

" _Don't bother trying to get me acquitted; Kuraski is fixing it as we speak and he wants me to waste energy there. I need you guys to get me something else."_

"What's that?"

" _The Emperor carries a personal communicator, I've seen it on his belt. What I need is its contact code."_

Gabriel's brow twitched at hearing this as he shifted in his chair to take out his tablet. "Give me a minute…"

" _I also need a batch of healthy zerg larva. I can't produce them on my own, and Rindell…"_

"Rindell left a bunch in dead drop zulu, though I don't see why she can't-"

" _Rindell is… gone. Her body is perfectly fine, but her mind…"_

He frowned in thought. "The psi insulation around the Chronos' brain, she couldn't turn it off."

" _That's my theory too. She could only recall to her own body just as the Chronos was being destroyed. Rindell, she…"_ Her voice slowed, _"…can't help me now, she needs to rest."_

Tosh spoke up. "Mengsk Junior's number is one-four-oh-five, six-three-two-eight-eight, six-three-four-one."

"Saraslha, did you get that?"

" _Yeah, how'd he get it that fast?"_

Tosh put away his PDA. "Had it for awhile. Make your first call good, 'cause after he gets an unlisted caller they'll change it again."

" _Tosh, hiring you was the wisest money I ever splurged."_

"Damn straight." He said.

"Saraslha," Keid picked up the purpletooth. "What the hell is your plan if you're not gong to fight in court? Kuraski is placing the prosecutor, the judge, hell even the jury he wants through his political pull. If you're blamed for the hybrid then he'll walk free, and everything we've done up to this point will be for nothing."

" _Marchen…"_ She said cordially, as though formally addressing him. _"I take back what I said about you, youre not a dirty rotten traitor."_

He frowned at this seemingly irrelevant topic.

" _I'm coming to believe…"_ Her speech and voice tone slowed _, "perhaps forced to contemplate that there's more to a person than their allegiance, something deeper, and dare I say… more compellng."_

"Whatever you may be ruminating…" He said slowly. "Right now, you have to fight."

" _What I have to do… is lose."_ She huffed briefly. _"Don't worry about me. Focus on severing all of my assets from my name. The government's doing its digging on me right now and you have a limited amount of time before they sieze it all. Save it, sell off the ballast and try to do something good with it. That's my final order to you, Doctor Marchen."_

"I'm getting really pissed off at this defeatist atti—"

" _I can't win now, more importantly I don't want to. I'm an exile now, and I'll probably be hated by Humanity after the trial has concluded. My arrogance and her own faith in me is also what put Rindell in the state she's in. But past all of that… despite all of that, I still want to live, and I realize from my position what an ordeal that will be. I want the thoughts and consciousness I have to see the next day, and the one after that. That's my aim now, and once you've delivered the batch of larva I need you'll be released from my service. You're free, Marchen."_

09090909090909090909090909090

Saraslha stood alone in the pitch darkness of her solitary confinement cell, holding the Blacktooth to her ear. Her face sagged, and her arms and body were littered with bite marks and claw gashes which denoted self-harm. Currently though, she was calm. "Tosh, if you're still there I have one last job for you, after which you'll be released from your contract early with full compensation. You'll receive the details at a later time."

" _Understood."_

"That'll be all, 'gents." She disconnected, and then input a new code on the Blacktooth. Once it began dialing, she moved it back to her ear.

" _Who is this?"_ Answered a familiar voice.

"Kuraski, is that you? It's your favorite zerg lass."

" _Allow me to clarify that I despise your kind up to and including you."_

"And I've rather warmed to you and your fellow humans."

" _From the mouth of a murderer who aspires to lead a swarm of murderers."_

"Believe with all your heart, Kuraski, and maybe the blood on your hands will stop keeping you up at night."

" _What do you want, Saraslha?"_

"I want to tell you that come the trial tomorrow, I'm going to plead guilty, and then I'm going to tell the truth about what I've done, what I've witnessed, what I know and everything you've done."

A pause. _"…What are you playing at by telling me this?"_

"Do you know what the purpose of the Baneling is? Or the Scourge? Let's just say I'm no longer interested in saving myself, and you're coming down with me."

" _I don't believe you. You'd never view yourself as expendable."_

In privacy, her eyes winced from discomfort. "You've been a challenging opponent, Kuraski, a I now have the final piece of your puzzle. I know who you are."

" _You're trying to make me uneasy. It won't work-"_

"Captain."

No response. She held the blacktooth in front if her, waiting many long seconds for the silence to be broken.

She continued. "You abandoned your post, your fleet, your comrades. And for what? Material desires? Your own ego?"

" _I don't have to defend the basic desire to live. It's delusional to see a greater purpose in death, and anybody who says differently wants you to die for their benefit."_

"If it's all for nothing then why would they go through all the trouble to convince you?"

" _You… don't know humanity like I do, Saraslha. Though I suppose that is to be expected of an alien imitation."_

"Better that than a human imitation."

" _I'm one hundred percent human. What do you suggest I'm imitating?"_

"A better person than you really are."

" _That sounds like projection."_

"I'm taking the fall for everything, Kuraski." Her voice elevated, "including the things you've done and are scurrying away from like a filthy rat. That might not make me better, but it sure as hell makes me something you're not."

A pause, several long breaths, _"…indeed it does, and that something is: extinct."_ He ended the connection.

She took a deep breath in the dark, peaceful confinement of her holding cell. And then another deep breath, this one accompanied with a gleeful stare ahead. As much as it struck her emotionally, she knew that her being exiled made Kuraski's goal of starting a war impossible, and that bothered him immensely.

Sleep was optional for Saraslha, but as the seconds, minutes and hours made their passes on her impatient, input-deprived mind, the prospect of passing time in a state of unconsciousness became all the more alluring. The steel floor and wall across from the cell bars sapped her body heat through her new subpar carapace, and so she ended up in the cell bunk, under the blanket. There was a feeling of unwelcome humility in using amenities meant for objectively weaker humans, but the comfortable warmth of doing so won out against this sense of impropriety. Saraslha drifted into sleep.

090909090909090909090909090909090

 **In the mists of omniscience**

Rampant weak vibration through the floor, an unfamiliar element in her scent receptors. This change in surroundings brought Saraslha out of sleep, and when she opened her eyes, she saw somebody standing over her bed: a protoss.

"Hey!" She snapped to her feet, barreling into this unwelcome visitor with her hands ready to swipe. Saraslha stumbled into thin air, staggering until her back hit the opposite wall from the cot. The protoss was gone and she was alone again. Through her adrenaline-fueled heavy breaths she spoke again. "What... what the hell..?"

The protoss appeared once again, outside the bars of Saraslha's holding cell in the dim nighttime lack of lighting. The protoss' figure was given bulk by a violet tunic and cape that flowed gently with the minor air drafts on the cellblock's corridor.

"I don't know what your beef is." Saraslha concealed her nervousness behind a wall of anger. "But you'd better piss off right now, Firstborn."

A new light; the protoss' warp scythe ignited. Her height and figure denoted she was female, and her cold, Nerazim eyes fixated on Saraslha as she took a step forward and blinked through the bars. She spoke, _"The Matriarch has ordered your death, beast."  
_  
Saraslha backed up against the wall, her legs felt weak and she willed them to stand. This was it; she didn't stand a chance in a one on one with a Dark Templar.

 _"Not even the Terrans' throne world is beyond reach of our assassins"_ She leveled her warp scythe. _"Oblivion awaits!"_

Saraslha screamed as her arms raised in front of her face. Nothing happened. She lowered her arms and opened her eyes; the nerazim was gone, with not even a mist trail that would denote blinking, nor remnants of an energy field that would denote recall warp. "Am I..." Breaks in her heavy breathing. "Am I going nuts?"

 _"Aww, you should have seen your face!"  
_  
Saraslha snapped toward the source of the voice. The same Nerazim had appeared again, and was sitting relaxedly on the cot inside her holding cell. The nerazim continued speaking, in a completely new accent and tone. _"That was fun, I must say. Now... was it an 'Oh Crap!' Fakeout? Or a Fake Kill Scare?"_

Saraslha stared in disbelief, twitching no less than three times. "I thought I was gonna die, you asshole!"

 _"Oh, no."_ The Protoss shook her head. _"I'm not here to kill you, but you're right!"_ She pointed at Saraslha as she leaned forward, her eyes widening _. "It was My Life Flashed Before My Eyes, duh."  
_  
These terms passed over Saraslha's head as though it were gibberish. "Listen, if it weren't for the fact that you'd completely outmatch me in a fight..." A finger raised. "I'd be telling you to piss off right now."

 _"Oh, 'fraid not."_ The nerazim stood up _"The universe wants me to be here."  
_  
Her annoyance level was reaching critical mass, but Saraslha couldn't risk pissing her off. "Why, does the universe want you to be here?" 'I'm entertaining this loon!' her internal monologue said, 'what am I doing?'

 _"How should I know?"_ The nerazim shrugged. _"'Universe is damn crazy..."  
_  
"Well how about..." Saraslha frowned with thought. "You go to the universe, you know, far away from here, and ask it-"

 _"It's a he."  
_  
"Ask _him_ what he wants, and come back later in, say, a day?"

The nerazim vanished from existence, then reappeared in the same place a near-instant later. _"Nope! Still nuts. But I can tell you this much:"_ She spoke more slowly, _"my creator, has told your creator, that it's okay for me to exist in your creator's universe. Although- bear with me, it's hard to define 'universe' in this situation, and right now we're both being written by your creator."  
_  
Saraslha was gawking, her mouth hung slightly open as her eyes winced. "We... have creators..?" Her head tilted like a confused canine.

 _"And I've certainly pondered what motivated yours to create you."_ The Nerazim walked past Saraslha and turned in a circle, sizing her up from bottom to top _. "On the surface you denote an inclination toward Mary Sue."  
_  
"Who's Mary Sue?"

The Nerazim waved it off, _"Hideously overpowered, loved by all and blessed by the powers-that-be to always be correct and prevail."  
_  
"She sounds like a very powerful individual." Saraslha's eyes widened with interest.

 _"She's a buzzkill. You don't wanna meet her, trust me."  
_  
"Why do you talk that way?" Saraslha said. "It's nothing like other protoss."

 _"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Diasen."_ She grabbed Saraslha's hand and shook it roughly. _"And... oh, I've got a hypothesis!"_ She stepped back. _"He created you because Everything's Better With Princesses!"_ Diasen pinched both sides of her cape and curtsied.

"Well not necessarily." Saraslha's arms crossed. "What if the princess is petty, vindictive and abuses her position?"

 _"That falls under the Royal Brat."  
_  
Another unfamiliar term, Saraslha sighed. "You are so bewildering, on so many levels."

 _"That's the intention!~ Now let's cut the crap and get down to brass tacks."  
_  
"The reason you're here."

 _"To inform you that you are the lucky recipient of a good honest character nerfing! Mainly to your 'happiness,' 'luck,' 'follower strength' and 'biological cohesion' stats."  
_  
At this point Saraslha had come to expect weird terms from this person. "You're gonna have to unpack what that means."

" _I mean that your creator has decided that you need to experience pain and loss."  
_  
"Oh my god..." Saraslha looked off, gawking and wincing again. "My creator is a total jackass."

 _"He is! Am I right? I come off like a complete clown in his hands. Fangtom was a lot more measured."  
_  
"Fangtom, that's... your creator?" Saraslha said.

 _"Yep. He was also the first higher being to draw you visually in their plane of existence."_

"Is he... nicer? Than... my creat-"

 _"Howling Din."_

"Is he nicer to his characters than Howling Din?"

Diasen sobered as she processed this question _. "On second thought... no. Not really, no."_

"So they both like meddling with peoples' lives."

" _Story arcs, and yeah. They even get together to share ideas on how to screw with us."_

"Okay, look. I'm gonna be straight with you, Diasen." She raised both hands. "I don't believe a thing you're saying right now, nor do I know why you're here or what you want. I think you're insane, possibly dangerous, and should probably see about finding mental help, or whatever protoss approximation of that might exist."

A slow blink in her Nerazim eyes. _"You… don't have to worry about that. My job here is done. I can leave now, and you won't even think I was real."_

"What are you—"

0909090909090909090909090

Saraslha woke up. She was laying in the holding cell cot. The Protoss individual wasn't there, and as Saraslha climbed ever more into a state of consciousness, the idea that it all never happened became all the more prevalent. Despite its vividness, there was no indication that what happened was anything more than a dream. Saraslha didn't sleep often, and didn't have much experience with what a typical dream was supposed to be like.

Saraslha stood up, and looked out the narrow window to the outside. The morning light was seeping in.

09090909090909090909090909090

The Emperor had woken hours before sunup, with the first item on his schedule being a cabinet meeting, and the first item of that meeting being a scheduled communication with Zagara which was currently in session.

"So I'm to understand…" He said, "That you've sentenced your daughter to exile, for doing something which only a week ago you were outwardly accepting of?"

" _She continued to do so after I'd ordered her to cease."_ Zagara's projection said. _"You should be pleased, Emperor. It means you can inflict your own sentence on her without consequence. She has broken many of your laws, has she not?"_

It was unsettling, but Valerian couldn't let that show. If Zagara lacked the willingness to protect her child when it became politically inconvenient, how much loyalty would she have toward their non-aggression agreement when that became an inconvenience as well? "Your daughter's trial is today. She's almost certainly going to be convicted, and almost certainly going to face execution or life imprisonment."

" _Whatever she faces, she faces it alone. My swarm will not protect her."_

And you honestly don't care of she dies? That's what he wanted to say. Saraslha's only chance would have been Zagara making an extradition demand that returned her to Swarm-controlled territory. Saraslha would then be tried out of court with a sentence that could only be enforced if she returned to the Dominion. But Zagara had chosen to exile her, so that option was now impossible.

" _That is all I have to say on the matter. Any further points can be spoken to Izsha, and she'll relay them to me when I have the time."_ Zagara disconnected.

Artanis was present, standing off to the side of the table's head. _"Have you now a better understanding of my feelings regarding the Swarm, young emperor? Zagara has abandoned her own child."_

Valerian frowned as he thought privately. "I see it well, Hierarch. But the Zerg are alien to both of us. There could be a deeper reason Zagara cast her out which we don't see. Even before she came to Korhal, Saraslha had been deliberately thrown into dangerous situations. This… exile, could be an extension of that."

" _I think you are rationalizing a desire to maintain peace with Zagara, out of fear of the risk in destroying her."_

"She's given us no cause to initiate hostilities; the recent incident was of human making, and the zerg individual with complicity has been handed over for all intents and purposes."

" _I hope you're correct in that judgement, though I have doubts."_ Artanis said. _"I believe the next matter to discuss are hybrid. How much longer before the last of the remains in your Dominion's possession have been delivered?"_

One of the ministers spoke up. "I just got a report: the last of the hybrid body parts have been taken out of cold storage, and are on their way to Korhal to be transferred to the Burning Spire. Their ETA is half an hour."

The Defense Minister spoke, "the low-orbit area where the Neo Hybrid was destroyed has been thoroughly scanned. No traces of it remain."

" _Very well,"_ Artanis said. _"I also wish to observe your trial of the Overqueen's daughter. Can that be arranged?"_

"Of course it can." Valerian said.

A staff member entered the conference room. "My Lord, the press corps have assembled in the auditorium. It's ready for you."

"Thank you Simon." The Emperor stood on his feet as he looked Artanis in the eye, raising his brow, "time to feed the dogs." He turned and headed out.

09090909090909090909090909090

Matt Horner walked the streets of the city. The quarantine had been lifted and the city declared clean of zerg. People resumed their lives with the fallout from the crisis relegating itself to news stories, conversation on the aftermath and private mourning of the deceased.

He'd changed out of his Dominion officer's uniform, wearing simple cargo pants and a form fitting t-shirt. If anybody recognized his face, they made no outward signal of it.

He veered toward, and then through the door to a high-end pub. Past the tables, out onto a terrace and to one specific table near the railing, he found who he was looking for; the person he'd agreed to meet.

David Kuraski.

As Horner took his seat, he observed a chessboard in the center of the table, with all pieces present save 1 pawn from each army. Kuraski was relaxed, his chair oriented to observe the view of the outer city and expanse of desert beyond. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation, Admiral."

"Did you create the Hybrid?" Horner's knitted hands were set firmly on the table.

"Tragedies, or celebrations, of the moment tend to dilute one's view of the universal. I'd like to focus this discussion on principles, if it'd be acceptable."

"I'm not wired."

"I believe you." His eyes shifted to meet Horner's. "And my preference stands."

If that's what it took to glean something from him. "If you want a debate, then I welcome it."

"Splended, ah, but first." David held his hands over the table, closed into fists. "Choose a hand."

Matthew's head tilted left.

The hand opened, revealing the missing white pawn, with the missing black pawn in his other. He placed them both in their respective spots on the board. "The first move is yours, Admiral."

"Let's start with a number." Horner moved his king's pawn 1 space forward. "One thousand, four hundred and two."

"The civilian death count." David took his kingside bishop's pawn and sent it forward 2 spaces. "The Zerg are a savage race, no?"

Horner frowned at Kuraski's weak opening move. It exposed his king and kingside knight to a future diagonal attack while not allowing any additional power pieces to move through his pawn row. There was no way a man like Kuraski would be poor at chess. For his move, Horner moved his queenside knight in front of his pawn row. "Compared to what? Humanity? The Protoss?"

"Yes." Kuraski answered simply as he promptly took his turn. "The late Emperor Arcturus was a tyrant in your view, but look at the scale of this city, originally built under his regime." He indicated the view over the railing of the expanse of glass and metal cityscape and bright desert. "Even the an amoral, power-hungry human will allow some good things to exist in his domain. You yourself champion the cause of reforming the Dominion he founded. Now, what of the Zerg? What do they create that lasts? Even the efforts of the half-human Saraslha have been predicated purely on winning against her opponent, damn the earth it might scorch, from attacking their holdings physically to forming an unsustainable competitor."

Horner knew this man was involved in the recent outbreak, and that the public ire toward Saraslha could well make her the scapegoat that saves him. But if he pushed too hard in specific terms, Kuraski might withdraw, refusing to say anything more lest it incriminate him. "That's how understanding works, David. You approach something alien, something displeasing, something it's damn easy to criticize in a way that sits right with you, and you listen. Some discomfort today is worthwhile if it averts hell tomorrow."

"All you're doing with that mindset is giving them a new claw to sink into human flesh. Dominance is the linchpin of whatever approximation of philosophy the Zerg may possess, and the peace has been kept solely by our alliance with the Daelaam. Do you think if Humanity were weakened and vulnerable, they'd decline to destroy us out of goodwill?"

"That's entirely up to the free will of their ruler. Is Humanity any better if we initiate the conflict?"

"I think it would be sensible to eliminate the threat while it remains possible. And I reject any likelihood that the conflict would be initiated by Humanity."

"Zagara might indeed decide to fight, today, tomorrow, next week, just as our leaders might bring this nation to war for causes beyond your control." He met Kuraski's gaze. "I can understand how this would bother a man of your ego. You assume that simply because events are outside your control they'll go badly."

David leaned back, an amused smirk on his face as he viewed their chess match. "That's exactly how I think, Admiral. And it doesn't mean I'm wrong."

09090909090909090909090

Saraslha stood in the defendant's booth of a spacious courtroom whose metallic aesthetic was suppressed with wooden decals and warm lighting. She stared ahead, indifferent to the scornful, leering gazes of the audience.

"Zerg Princess Saraslha." The judge was an older man whose professional disposition brought the emotional temperature in the room down. "You stand accused of property damage, unlawful transaction, violation of house arrest and over one thousand counts of involuntary manslaughter. How do you plead?"

"Guilty on all charges." Saraslha said. Her voice had a nonchalant tone, as though she was ordering a pizza, and her posture was relaxed as she put up a face that didn't notice the throng of faces staring at her, a lack of malevolence, yet also a lack of submissiveness which caused the stinkeye of the observing people to intensify.

The Prosecutor spoke, "You are aware that you're going to be punished to the fullest extent of the law whether you plead innocent or not?"

"I am aware," she said. "My plea remains the same."

"For what purpose?"

"Because I did all those things."

The Judge spoke, "the defendant pleads guilty on all charges. The Court will reconvene in twenty minutes to determine sentencing." He struck with the gavel.

0909090909090909090

A nearby television to Kuraski and Horner's conversation had the news running. _"We have confirmation that in her currently ongoing trial, the now-exiled Princess Saraslha has plead guilty on charges related to yesterday's attack."_

Matt Horner was midway through his chess match with Kuraski. He had a slight lead having taken 3 of his power pieces, with Kuraski only taking 2. "During the first Mengsk's heyday…" Horner said after hearing the television in the background. "There were levers and loopholes which allowed people of influence to fix the trials of people they did or didn't like for the verdict they preferred. Every intellectual the government jailed had a trial that appeared fair on the surface, but amounted to theatre. Left over from that old system is an expedited format that can process a large number of cases at once."

"The fixing actually still goes on." Kuraski was on his 3rd glass of wine. "Though… good luck detecting or proving it. The only difference in present day is that the levers you describe aren't used in service to the Throne."

"And they're fewer in number." Horner moved a pawn to threaten Kuraski's knight.

"I understand the basic desire to help strangers." David said, "it feels nice; gives you a fuzzy feeling. I know because I've put together charities." He moved his one remaining bishop to take the pawn Horner had moved. "But the time will come when your back is against the wall; are any of these faceless strangers you've helped going to come to your much-needed aid? Would they even be able to, had they the willingness?"

Horner moved his queen to take Kuraski's bishop without being threatened. It was his reply to another weak move by Kuraski that made Horner more nervous than assured. "The nice thing about following principles… Is that I don't have to remember individual favors I'm owed."

"You'll continue to think that, up to the point where a set of teeth are around your neck."

"If that happens then so be it," Horner said. "The cause can continue without me."

"The number of people to carry that torch is small, not large." His move, followed by another unmindful sip of wine. "People don't change just because one individual set an example, Admiral Horner. It takes decades, generations. The best you can do in the here and now is accept human nature and work with it; be productive that way."

As the seconds ticked by with Horner silently, contemplatively staring at the board, Kuraski's head shook, a slow blink that denoted a loosening of inhibition. "That Saraslha creature, she's going to take responsibility for everything, and it will gain her nothing. People don't give a damn about nuance or motive, and they won't give a damn about yours either, when the time comes."

Several more long seconds, and Horner spoke. "I'm well aware that a better future won't happen overnight. Perhaps not even in my lifetime. Nor is it assured that people who do the right thing are remembered fondly." Horner took his move on the chessboard. "But time doesn't matter; I don't presume to have answers on how, when or why the world will become a better place. What I know is that it should, and that's enough for me."

090909090909090909090

"It began when a telepathic voice called me away from the Embassy, after I had sent away my protector, Broodmother Rindell. Myself and a small force of warrior strains took off from the embassy using a flock of overlords borrowed from Izsha. We landed at the Grey Mesa, where I encountered the container imprisoning the broodmother I sensed, which in truth was a hybrid named Niadra.

"At the telepathic goading of this hybrid, which at the time I still believed to be a broodmother, I opened this container. The hybrid promptly tried to kill me, but I was able to kill her at the cost of all but two of my guards and being wounded myself. I would later learn that this outcome was owed largely to the hybrid being kept in a weakened state via minimized sustenance.

"I soon learned that the chain of events that led to my confrontation with the hybrid were orchestrated by David Kuraski, GenTek's founder and CEO. I felt his actions against me were an act of war, and being the zerg I am, I felt the urge to fight him and win."

It was Saraslha's sentence hearing, and she made this statement under oath from the defense stand. She continued.

"I deliberately evaded the protection that would have come with returning to the embassy or palace out of a desire to continue waging this private war. A number of humans died in this conflict, including fringe mercenaries and GenTek security guards. This happened before the hybrid was released nearly twenty four hours ago by David Kuraski, which he did in order to protect himself from an empty bomb threat; a bluff I had made and which he believed. I have no information as to how the hybrid was brought back to life, but the creature's powerful biology and the fact that her body remained intact save a decapitated head makes it entirely plausible."

She took a slow, patient inhale before continuing. "My actions can, in the most charitable of lights be described as vigilantism. I've abused my immunity as a foreign emissary to cause chaos and pursue a personal vendetta on Dominion worlds. If not for my raid on GenTek headquarters, the hybrid Niadra would not have been released, and the hundreds of people who were killed in the recent crisis would still be alive today. That said, while my actions are correlated, I deny any allegation that I created said hybrid or directly released it in the second instance. This concludes my statement."

"I'd like to question the defendant." The Prosecutor spoke up.

"Proceed." The Judge said.

"Saraslha." He walked over to the stand. "Your statement was submitted to the court before the trial, I've therefore had a chance to review it. It contains damning accusations against one David Kuraski. Have you any corroboration for this claim?"

"Not in this trial. But I have left evidence in the hands of an anonymous other, to be brought to light should Kuraski be tried in the future."

The Prosecutor frowned, then his face normalized and he continued. "If you will not submit this evidence for review, then it is not relevant to this case. Why then would you make such accusations?"

"I'm under oath, and omitting his role in events would be a lie."

"And do you stand by the accusations you've made in your statement?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because he did those things."

"Is it your desire to subpoena Kuraski?"

"No.

The Prosecutor turned and began pacing as he spoke. "A false charge is a serious offense, and the onus is on you to prove them true. Do you understand this?"

Saraslha was still, speaking dispassionately. "If it's your contention that I've committed perjury, then it's up to the Prosecution to show that what I've said contradicts the evidence or something else I've said."

The Judge interjected. "Saraslha, while it has been mandated that your trial be conducted no differently than if you were human, this does not extend to any proceeding outside of your trial. You are not a Dominion citizen, nor a foreign emissary of any standing. Any evidence or testimony you would have to offer outside of this trial is therefore impermissible."

"I refer you to my previous statement," she said, "specifically the anonymous other I mentioned."

The Prosecutor turned and walked away from Saraslha. "Your honor, let there be no ambiguity to the well-founded conclusion that Saraslha is a monster, and her sentence should ensure there be no possibility that she's able to harm anybody again. This recording of her own words will make her moral character clear to all who observe this trial." He held out an audio playback device which sounded off throughout the mostly steel, orange-lit chamber.

" _I am a Zerg, and ours is the power of life itself. And an inescapable trait of life is the thirst for dominance. The tree which grows to glorious heights and kill the saplings below it. Alpha kings and queens who propagate their image. Like it or not I'm cut from that cloth, and you're correct to fear what I might do."_ The voice was Saraslha's.

The Judge leaned forward. "Saraslha, is the voice in that recording yours?"

Saraslha realized that Kuraski had recorded everything she said to him in their communications, on the unlikely, one in a million chance it could ever be useful, which it was since he had to have privately handed it off to the Prosecutor. She had never thought to record him in turn, and the meticulous web Kuraski had spun around her while she'd been charging blindly ahead thinking she was winning, had only now become completely clear. "Yes, I said those exact words."

"You've chosen to represent yourself. Have you anything to say in your defense?"

"Not in regard to that recording."

The Judge leaned back, relaxed. "I see no reason for this trial to continue. Have you anything further to say in your defense, which does not involve this recording?"

"Yes, your honor."

"Speak, then."

She inhaled, her eyes closed. "This trial is to be conducted no differently than if I am human. Am I correct in that citation of what you've said?"

"Yes." The Judge said.

"I was born five years and twenty one days ago. That is my chronological age."

A rumbling din arose from the previously silent spectators.

She continued, raising a small stack of papers. "And according to -and I'm paraphrasing- page one seventy six, article seven of the updated Dominion sentencing charter: Individuals of a minor age cannot be given the death penalty, nor any penalty which would be considered 'cruel and unusual.'"

The crowd erupted to angry shouting.

"Order." The Judge pounded his gavel. He looked toward Saraslha. "Do you have proof of your alleged age?"

"I'm the biological daughter of Overqueen Zagara, whose broodmother genetic strain is no older than a decade. Of all my possible ages, all are within what you would consider pre-adulthood."

The Prosecutor stood up abruptly. "Objection, there is no corroboration to the claim that Saraslha is the biological daughter of the zerg Overqueen."

"Objection," Saraslha said. "My claim is corroborated by the ID record made of me, per standard protocol regarding any newborn child or foreign element in Dominion Space. It lists Zagara as my biological mother."

Shouting. The rows of attendees yelled, with some banging the railings and backrests of the pews in front of them.

"Order." A bang of the gavel from the Judge. "In light of the defendant's minor age, I am compelled by law to sentence her to life imprisonment without parole. A provision regarding her physical strength and psionic ability will ensure her transit to a maximum security facility. Adjourned." He struck the gavel.

Two bailiffs in light armor with shotguns slung over their shoulders came to escort the still cuffed and psi-insulated Saraslha out of the courtroom.

090909090909090909090

"It would appear, Admiral Horner, that I've won."

Kuraski had only 4 pieces remaining on the board, compared to Horner's 10. And yet Horner's king was in checkmate; forced against a wall by Kuraski's rook and queen, while Kuraski's own victory condition king was not threatened in that turn. Horner pinched his brow. "That's… the whole time I thought I had a lead."

Kuraski's eyes were fixed on the board, satisfied. "I've always had a knack for psychological manipulation; it's quite the boon in the business world."

Horner groaned as he leaned back.

The news remained on the television nearby, _"This just in: The sentence hearing of Princess Saraslha has concluded, and she faces life in prison without parole. Although our legal correspondents predicted death row for the young alien, a legal clause regarding her chronological age of a mere five years has reduced her sentence. Joining us now to discuss this development, we have—"_

Kuraski's head had turned to the television, his gaze suddenly adopting a laser-like focus.

Horner saw this. "Were you… not aware that she was five years old?"

His mouth opened to speak, but there was a pause, "…no, I was not. But given… _Every_ fact surrounding her…" He said this in a stinging tone directed at himself, "It only makes sense."

Horner stood up, "I think that should put a nice lid on our meeting today."

"Leaving, are you?" Kuraski took out his clamshell computer and opened it for himself while remaining seated. "Thank you, for taking time out of your schedule to accept my invitation."

"How could I resist? A chess match with the UED Captain, whose battles are studied and analyzed in nearly every military academy in the Dominion."

His eyes shut, remaining still for several seconds. "I don't know anything about whom you're speak-"

"Izsha got it from Stukov, and I got it from Izsha."

David visibly shivered with annoyance. "Izsha, that's… the snake-woman… _thing_ who lives in the zerg building. You talk to it?"

Horner tapped the table, leaning over. "You're not the only hated enemy I'm willing to sit down and talk to."

"I… see," he said forcefully, maintaining his composure.

"I hear there's also a criminal investigation on you coming down the pipeline, though I can't be sure, given that I'm not a civilian law enforcement agent and… can't prove anything I think you've done or believe you are. Nevertheless I wish you good fortune in the near future." Horner said this in a pointedly non-sincere fashion as he turned and left.

090909090909090909090909090

As Saraslha was escorted out of the court building, a wild crowd had gathered outside, kept back and off the walkway by a line of power-armored guards. Angry shouting formed a raucous din from which Saraslha's ears picked up a few choice words.

"Murderer"

"Monster"

"Give it death"

It was about what Saraslha expected, but it still stung, hearing this from strangers whom felt so strongly.

There was a new voice, this one telepathic and crystal clear in spite of the noise, _"there are words I wish to say to you as well, young Saraslha."_

" _Artanis?"_ She recognized him. But as her telepathy reached out over the long distance, the thoughts of the people of the city formed a chaotic pile of gibberish that blinded her psi perception. Within several seconds as she walked, she found Artanis' mind and formed a two-way link that she could focus on and subsequently dampen her perception of the rest. _"Okay, got you, talk away Goldie."_

" _I am indifferent toward the Terrans' criminal justice system. My reason for observing it was to see how you would conduct yourself. Why did you withhold information? Why did you lie to your own detriment?"_

" _I'm… protecting people, people who've helped and followed me. I went out of my way to avoid mentioning them so they wouldn't be roped further into this."_

" _There may be a delay in time, but lies will inevitably cause damage and confusion to those near them."_

Saraslha looked ahead. _"I can live with that, as long as it's only me who suffers from now on."_

" _Your Terran thinking shines through; a view of a universal idea which vanishes when your mind looks toward the self."_

" _Is it not natural to hold myself to a unique standard when I'm the person I've control over?"_

" _An injustice is not made right by your approval, nor by you being its sole recipient."_

He didn't understand. Physically, she was walking up the ramp to a dropship with guards following closely behind, their weapons leveled at her. _"You don't get it, Goldie..."_ Her thoughts became distressed; irrational. _"I'm a horrible person. I don't belong anywhere, I'm not wanted,"_ The recent, grim memory of being rejected by her mother flared up in her mind, _"…and any pain that comes my way is fine now, because at least I can feel like I exist that way."_

" _Hatred of yourself… whom does that help? What does it create?"_

" _Nobody and nothing!"_ She snapped in her mind, her conversation invisible to the guards nearby as she ship's cargo bay shut and its throttle increased to lift off. _"But that's where I am, that's my sorry state."_

" _The thinking you display is alien to me, but I can state with confidence that it's a burden on you, and a burden on the Terrans from whose essence you've inherited it."_

" _There's a winner for insight."_ She thought sarcastically.

" _It is not my intention to lecture you, nor intervene on your inner battles. It is only to say this: Because your motives are honorable, if misguided, and my peoples' involvement in the recent battle was voluntary, I still hold no ill will toward you. Many of my brethren will feel similarly when your story is known to them. Whatever may happen in the future, the Daelaam will not hunt you, we will not react to your presence with hostility, and although a great number of humans feel hatred toward you, I do not share that sentiment."_

" _Artanis…"_

" _And I'm aware that it was your broodmother, Rindell who intervened on my battle with the hybrid, possibly saving my life. I am also aware that her mind was destroyed in that endeavor."_

Rindell. The mention of that name caused a fresh wave of guilt to wash through Saraslha's mind. _"Rindell… she's a vegetable because of me."_

" _Whatever your feeling, your savage race produced an individual capable of loyalty and sacrifice. I will always view your kind as a threat to my people, but Broodmother Rindell met a noble end."_

Saraslha felt his mind disconnect, and as she sat on a bench in the dropship's hold as it gained altitude and speed, as she process what he said about Rindell, her face broke as her eyes wetted. _"Damn you, Goldie…"_ An inhale, separated by breaks. _"Thank you."_

090909090909090909090909090

 **The following evening**

Kuraski remained at the high-end club. With GenTek central a designated scene of investigation as part of the recently created war zone, he couldn't go to his office. But his computer provided all the tools and communication he needed to conduct business.

 _I hear the princess is getting off with a life sentence._ An instant message on his screen, written in code. _Are you going to let it go?_

David read this, and typed: _Saraslha will escape in some way. She still has allies and assets she can call upon._ Enter.

A reply: _Agreed, she's not a threat anymore, but could become one again later. A bud which must be nipped..?_

He typed, _Take care of it, Karla._

Karla logged out, and Kuraski opened another message from a different associate:

 _We're going to take a financial hit from hell from this, Mr. K. Nine of our biggest contracts have been cancelled by our clientele, and whatever legal outcome and media coverage you're able to pull out of your ass, our headquarters being the crown jewel of a scorched out warzone has shareholders selling out like crazy._

There was a long minute in which Kuraski didn't reply, then another message from he same person.

… _Okay, I've taken a snutchy and I'm calming down. Do you have a plan for which assets you want me to liquidate?_

Kuraski typed, _"I'll send you a list in the next hour, stay on your computer. And don't worry, Peter, we'll recover from this. We always do."_

The person disconnected, and Kuraski opened a different thread with a minute-old message.

 _I believe you're in the clear, my friend. Word down the pipeline has 'Saraslha' and 'hybrid' in the same sentence on every news article and in every search query. For all the public cares she's the culprit of everything, and the investigation on GenTek is cooling down nicely. It shouldn't be hard to do the usual rigmerole of carpet sweeping and book juggling._

He was indeed in the clear. Saraslha made pinning the incident on her almost insultingly easy with the way she conducted herself during her trial. He almost felt disappointed that she didn't fight harder and try to rope him into the case. The people he'd fixed and information his people had gathered, all of which went unused left the bitter impression that he'd over-prepared for the late game of their long-running battle.

Except for that one maneuver, one thing he'd overlooked and which allowed her to dodge the death penalty. This detail left one loose end on the Saraslha question, but that loose end was well on its way to being resolved.

090909090909090909090909090

Saraslha was once again alone in her solitary confinement cell in a prison complex on the outskirts of Augustgrad. "Maximum security facility" meant New Folsom, and she was scheduled to be transferred there on a ship that would depart late at night in 4 hours.

Once again alone, she regurgitated her Blacktooth, took it out of its sealed bag and dialed Gabriel's encryption key.

"' _Been waitin' for your call. What's this last job?"_ He said.

Her mouth moved to speak. _"Fang, and Timothy-Oscar-Mario. That's the login and password for the shell account containing the rest of your payment. Your job is this: Infiltrate the ship scheduled to transport me, and rig controlled charges on the power transformer of the ship's reactor, with the trigger and timer set to ten seconds after its first warp jump. Secondarily, you're going to pick up Doctor Marchen's satchel and deposit it in holding cell two-two-seven of the same ship. Do these things, and our business will be concluded."_

" _Understood."_ He said plainly, unceremoniously before disconnecting for the last time.

She then dialed a new encryption key: 1405 63288 6341

She let it dial, and somebody answered, _"Who is this?"_ The voice was Emperor Valerian's.

"It's Saraslha, you have a free minute?"

A pause, _"…I suppose we'll gloss over how you acquired this number."_

"Let's! Why allow that to get in the way of a good chat?"

" _You should know that there's a degree of separation between the Throne and the judicial system. Aside from mandating you be treated no differently than a human, your trial was out of my hands."_ He continued, _"and while I personally know the truth about what happened, I cannot prove it without information I illegally acquired."_

"I understand that, and what's done is done. I apologize for my role in the outbreak."

" _It was GenTek who was keeping it, alive and in the city. In my view, you're but one of the blades which could have cut that tenuous string."_

"I'm calling you because…" She searched for the words.

" _But you're still accountable for cutting that string."_

Saraslha found the words she wanted, and continued, speaking, "…

09090909090909090909090909090

 **4 hours later**

The name of the prisoner transport ship was the DCF Icarus. When Saraslha read the name on the outside of its hull, a vague sense of narrative synchronicity entered her mind. The sizable and rugged ship's shape was lit by powerful spotlights against the nighttime darkness and cool winds blowing through the spaceport.

Even with psi insulation and physical bindings, Saraslha was stored in a cell with the usual steel bars, along with a wire mesh and a redundant force field which would take a considerable power draw from the ship's reactor, and certainly wasn't activated for every holding cell, but ensured that especially dangerous convicts had no chance of breaking free.

Alone in her holding cell, Saraslha sat on the floor, feeling more exhausted and weak than she had in her life. A look at her own hand and forearm showed light brown veins sticking out of the seams in her carapace. They were stiff and hard to the touch; certainly not containing blood. Plant roots? That was her first thought. It had to be another delayed trait awakened by her growth spurt less than 48 hours ago, and this one was especially unpleasant.

"Dammit, I don't need this." She stood abruptly, and a tearing pain rippled through every muscle that shifted. The roots were everywhere inside, and they were treating her like a static life form; like a plant. A plant which the growing roots wanted to reinforce, and that would be lovely if she never had to _move._ Saraslha groaned in frustration, speculating that her mother stuffed this crap into her embryo without a care.

If she had time to sift through her own genetic code and find the activation pointer for the roots, she could find a way to shut it off and stop her body from wasting energy on this physically inhibiting growth, but that could take days, and it was was a half hour flight to New Folsom through several well-established warp points that didn't require much calculation; she didn't have the time.

A voice over the ship's PA system, _"All airlocks have been sealed; hull pressurized. Beginning launch sequence."_ She felt an onslaught of vibration and positive Gs as the ship propelled itself from the ground, quickly gaining speed and altitude which Saraslha could only feel from her cell.

 _It's almost time,_ Saraslha thought. The bag deposited in the unoccupied cell #227 was full of larva. Once the explosive charge neutralized the power transformer for the ship's reactor, all systems would go down save for life support and the mechanism for ejecting the modular, semi-self-sufficient holding cells from the ship. After the first warp jump, the ship would be in the Mar Sara star system, and when the power was knocked out she planned to slip her barrier-free cell, grab the larvae and exit the ship via airlock. She assumed that her flight ability would work in a vacuum, since the Brood War queen could do it, and whatever assassination attempt lay in store for her during this transit could be avoided if she made it to Mar Sara.

There were no guards aboard, as there was no avenue for any prisoner to escape without taking control of the heavily sealed off bridge.

It took several minutes, but the ship promptly made it clear of Korhal's atmosphere and orbital traffic, and then span up its loud, commercial warp drive to enter a faster-than-light travel path.

Ten seconds after exiting warp space in the prison ship's first jump, the main lighting went out, the barrier fell from Saraslha's holding cell, and an automated message rang through the metallic halls announcing power failure and a switch to a low-volume emergency circuit. With this, Saraslha cut the chain linking her cuffs with a bit of determined tooth grinding, but left the psi insulator on her head. Wearing the insulator made telepathy impossible for Saraslha, but it also protected her from any psionic detection or probing.

The thin wire mesh between the bars was no match for Saraslha's claws, but the larger bars, in place and locked with or without power, presented a somewhat greater obstacle. She grabbed one bar with both hands, then let herself tilt sideways as she propped her feet on the sidewall in a squat posture, using it as leverage to dead-lift her entire body against the one steel bar. The solid roots were persistently trying to grow around her bones and this made moving painful, but she still had her zerg strength, and it came through as the bar gave, bending outward and to the side in line with her push.

It made a large enough opening to slip out, and with as much speed as she could stand through the root pain, she ran through the broad, high-ceilinged corridors toward cell #227. Several cells she passed by also had prisoners; she ignored them. The emergency power circuit maintained life support, these people would be fine.

Saraslha felt her plan was going off without a hitch. Well, the plant root thing was a hitch, but she could still make it off the ship and to the planet. Then, maybe she'd have time to rest and do some self-analysis.

She turned a corner, and somebody was standing calmly in the center of the walkway, facing Saraslha. The new person just came out of an opened cell of her own, and had a relaxed posture. She was dressed semi-formally, with black slacks and a pale-purple coat and scarf that were too thin to be meant for warmth. When Saraslha saw this, she stopped.

"You're…" Saraslha remembered a person who was described to her once, and the woman's short raven hair sealed it. "You're Karla Simmons."

"Correct." Karla uncrossed her arms and walked toward Saraslha, closing the distance of around 10 meters. "Don't try to flee, it will make you an easier target. And don't call for help, because it will be useless and I'm in no mood for noise."

The woman's confidence was a little unsettling, but then rationality kicked into Saraslha's mind; a human was only a human, and this one didn't even have power armor. "I would have expected GenTek's head of security to have an army in tow."

She continued to walk. "I don't need one to deal with you."

This was ridiculous! Saraslha thought. But hey, if Kuraski's attack dog had a death wish, she'd be only happy to oblige. Saraslha shot into motion, fighting the painfully tearing root growth under her skin, as well as air resistance and a shortage of traction relative to her movement strength as she propelled herself forward. Once she was only 2 meters from Karla, Saraslha leaped to the side, kicked off the wall and made a leaping dive with a clawed hand set to strike.

Pressure, of the sort Saraslha would expect from a machine vice closed around the wrist of the hand she lunged at Karla. And then impact, like a cold and brutal hammer slammed into her torso carapace. Another fraction of a second, Saraslha saw that the source of both of these things were Karla's hands, one which grappled Saraslha's lunge, and then another which counterattacked with expert reflexes and enormous kinetic force. As Saraslha's center body was sent away, Karla's punching hand closed around the arm she had a grip on, and she broke Saraslha's arm over her knee.

Only Saraslha's zerg instinct kept her standing in spite of the inferno of pain from her broken limb. She back-stepped hastily, keeping her intact arm in striking position as her gaze didn't move from Karla, whose aggression calmed after braking the arm.

"How the hell are you so strong!" Saraslha couldn't help but shout it. This was against the natural order of things. Humans don't grapple zerg, much less land body shots and break their limbs—this lady was breaking the rules!

Karla, calming slightly, continued stepping toward Saraslha, who backpedaled further having gotten on the other side of Karla in the corridor during their exchange. Karla spoke, "Did it not strike you as odd, that I survived a hole blown through my chest with a canister rifle?"

Saraslha grabbed her broken arm and set the bone straight. In about 5 seconds the bone would heal enough to use again.

"GenTek cybernetics are the best money can buy, or which can be attained as a job benefit." Karla continued speaking. "An alloy mesh woven around my bones, my muscles infused with adrenalin-synthesizing nanites which structure themselves along the tendons and muscle fibers to prevent tearing. I had to learn to move and fight all over again. It made my body more dense, and I still have trouble holding a glass without cracking it." A raised hand which slowly closed to a fist, she continued walking as Saraslha stepped back. "But It's given me all the strength and durability of a machine, with none of the stiffness, predictability or maintenance requirements."

"A cyborg, that's lovely." Saraslha's eyes darted left and right as she lowered to a beast-like fighting posture, wondering when Karla would suddenly resume fighting. "But do you know what would have been a lot simpler than a grandiose expensive human enhancement procedure? An army. A few guys in power armor would have pretty much screwed me."

"Funny." She said in a deadpan tone. "Even if I managed to smuggle that into this ship -unlikely,- it would deal with you perhaps, but not a ghost or spectre. I'm telling you this…" A hand reached back, taking a handgun from under her coat which approached the size of a sawed off shotgun. "Because I've been a part of your war of wits with Mister Kuraski, and you deserve to know why you're now in checkma-"

Saraslha abruptly pounced at her, launching off the floor. Karla, in this split second, wisely omitted trying to shoot her and raised a hand to once again catch Saraslha's lunge. She could then simply throw the zerg along the corridor and then shoot her.

Saraslha's skirt of webbed appendages shot out of her waist and stiffened, suspending her in the air in the course of her high-velocity pounce. In the same motion, and while Karla's unconscious instinct took precious fractions of a second wrapping themselves around this unorthodox development with fighting a humanoid opponent, Saraslha let her upper body tilt back as she swung a foot into Karla's head.

It was caught. Karla's hand shot up and clamped down on Saraslha's ankle. With this, Karla planted her feet and swung Saraslha's entire mass into the metallic bars of a nearby empty holding cell.

The impact caused the bars to ring and the wire mesh to tear. Karla let her gun drop to the floor with a resounding clang. With her hand still vicegripped on Saraslha's ankle, Karla pulled Saraslha out of this embedment, grabbed the leg with her additional hand and wound back Saraslha's entire mass to swing her overhead into the floor.

Saraslha was still conscious and well in the fight as her back slammed into the floor. She displayed a sudden burst of strength as she curled her gripped leg and pulled herself toward Karla, flexibly turning her upper body to lean forward as Saraslha's free leg went past her.

Karla was forced to let go in order to protect her face and neck from Saraslha's claws. She backstepped. As this happened, Saraslha's feet found the floor and she stood with a renewed balance.

The zerg was now battered and bruised with cracks and indents in her carapace while Karla remained undamaged.

This standoff lasted for one full second, and then Saraslha turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Karla's eyesight panned to her pistol on the floor; it had been kicked back several feet when Saraslha's free leg went past her in their wrestling exchange. "Shit!" Karla ran to it and scooped it up in a motion which turned her facing back toward the fleeing Saraslha. She leveled the weapon and aimed with a patient discipline, letting the seconds tick by as Saraslha neared an intersection to turn the corner. Then the trigger was squeezed, and the gun discharged.

The slug penetrated Saraslha's upper body through the back and came out the front. The force of the bullet made her stumble, but she kept going and turned the corner out of view.

When she rounded the corner, Saraslha came upon a blast door in the process of closing; a motion which her ears picked up and which had prompted her to flee. Karla's bullet did significant damage to her internal organs, but not enough to kill her. With a persistent stamina only a zerg could produce, Saraslha stumbled hastily through the door just before it sealed shut.

This would only buy time, Saraslha thought to herself in a mindset of frustration and fear. Her gauss shotgun may have evened the odds against the walking tank that was Karla Simmons, but she didn't think to have it smuggled aboard, and their physical exchange didn't present any opportunity to grab Karla's gun.

As Saraslha continued walking through the corridors of the dimly lit prison ship, her hand vainly clasped over the gaping bullet hole in her torso, she sensed the sizable batch of larva, stuffed in a bag in the empty cell #227 not far away. Perhaps those could be used? No, without resources they were useless. Biomass would work as a viable, if less efficient material to develop the larvae into something useful, but there was little to be found aboard a disabled ship in space. The handful of other prisoners still in their cells weren't an option; moral implications aside, Saraslha was in no condition to overpower even an ordinary person at this point.

"Dammit!" Her fist slammed against the metal wall as she halted her laborious, wounded walking. Karla was either getting the blast door open or finding a way around it, the jaws of death were coming down. Saraslha was going to lose her life. Kuraski had made his final checkmate on her, and there was nowhere left to run.

0909090909090909090909090

 **One Year Ago, before the Sephulli mission.**

The younger, spunkier Saraslha had a look of horror at what she was told. "I can't do that, mother. I don't want to fight you. Not even as a controlled wargame."

" _You will not be killed if you lose. Why are you so hesitant?"_

"It just…" She looked off. "Doesn't feel right."

" _I have been told of your behavior on the colony world of Delendar. Kilysa, my senior broodmother there conveys memories to me, of your repeatedly making a mockery of her second, Rindell. You were even so arrogant as to challenge Kilysa herself for stewardship over the colony."_

"Yah," Saraslha snapped. "And it says a lot that she turned me down."

Zagara turned to face her directly. _"You mistake Kilysa's restraint for cowardice. Excluding myself there are only two broodmothers as strong and intelligent as she in all the Swarm. That she went out of her way to save you from embarrassment is indication of that. Your victories are made exclusively against young and simpleminded queens."_

"And what? I have to fight you so you can teach me humility? You gonna put me down on behalf of your old war buddy Kilysa?"

The annoyance in Zagara's eyes and mind could no longer be concealed. _"You will take your position in the Bone Trench trial grounds within the next tenth of a cycle, and there you will face me."_ Without allowing the chance for a rebuttal, Zagara turned and left.

 **After the match**

Zagara approached a defeated Saraslha, who'd slumped to her knees staring down. "Are you happy now, mother?" She said in a low, monotonous tone.

" _My own satisfaction was not the aim of this battle."_

"What, then!" Her fingers curled around the volcanic ash her knees and feet sat in. Her face didn't look up.

" _You are clever, daughter; gifted with a cunning mind and creative potential few could hope to emulate. I saw that in our battle."_

Hearing positivity from her mother caused Saraslha to relax.

Zagara continued, _"but it does not make irrelevant your weaknesses; your arrogance. A creative ability is nothing but spectacle until it bears fruit. As it stands, you are a beast in possession of only one sharp claw."_

Her expression sank again. "Can I say something?"

" _Speak, daughter."_

Her face rose, making full eye contact. "The only reason I have to sit here and take your lecture, is because you won. That's it. If I was the winner, then _you'd_ have to listen to _me_ talk _your_ ear off."

" _That would be correct were it true, but it is not."_

"I'm glad we're in agreement, because one day…" She got up on her feet, facing her mother. "It may not be tomorrow, or the next day, but one day… She aimed a finger. "I'll defeat you. One day I'll be the strongest. Your power is colossal next to my sand grain, but it doesn't deter me. When that far-off day comes I will rule the Swarm, and that will include you."

With an effortless flick, Zagara's telekinesis lifted Saraslha into the air and shackled her movement all the way down to facial muscles. Zagara brought her closer, bringing them face to face. _"This conviction you display…"_

Saraslha couldn't move, but her face was locked on the same defiant expression.

A span of silence, then Zagara's eyes softened. _"It pleases me, daughter. Continue down that path, consider no adversary impossible to defeat nor asset indispensable. Live in this manner, and you will have value to me."_

0909090909090909090909090

 **The Present, Mar Sara System, Disabled prison vessel "DCF Icarus"**

Karla Simmons found Saraslha, whom was lain, bleeding and barely alive on the floor of the metallic corridor of the prison ship. Saraslha had found something; a fabric bag which looked empty and was clasped absentmindedly in her hand. Her eyes looked up at Karla's, afraid, helpless.

"I think you'll appreciate my refusal to pity you." Karla stopped next to her. "I've studied you enough to know that you have quite a lot of pride."

Saraslha was silent, sometimes shifting weakly on the floor with a strained inhale.

Karla sighed. "What is it about you that makes me want to run my mouth like this? On the job, no less." Her head shook. "I'll just get the main thing off my chest."

Her gun was aimed at Saraslha's head. "You were going to be a queen, Saraslha, but you wanted to be a hero instead. And now…" Her finger moved, ever so slightly pressuring the trigger. "Now, you're down here with me."

The gun discharged.

090909090909090909090909090

 **4 Hours ago, Saraslha's prison cell.**

Valerian spoke over Saraslha's Blacktooth, _"Am I to understand… that you're offering your allegiance to the Terran Dominion?"_

"I'm an ant without a colony, a bird with no flock, however you'd like to phrase it." Saraslha said. "A zerg who doesn't submit herself to a higher authority is less than an animal."

" _I see, you're plotting an escape, and don't wish to be hunted as a rogue zerg controller."_

"Even if you guys didn't do that…" She had a strangely broken inhale as her otherwise alert brow twitched. "I have no purpose without the Swarm, and I need… something, to fill that void."

" _That is an understandable plight. You wish to be assimilated as a Dominion asset?"_

"I suppose so."

" _And you'll do as I, or any commanding officer tells you?"_

"Of course."

 _A pause, seconds picked by, "…very well, then I want you to go to prison without any resistance and serve out your sentence."_

She winced at this. "I'm serious about serving your Dominion for the long haul. It's not like I'm a defector; Zagara kicked me out. Of all the uses you could glean from somebody with my abilities, you want to just put me in a cage?"

" _Yes."_

"May I ask why?"

" _You may, Saraslha. As a prospective citizen, you have committed a crime, been given due process and duly sentenced. While I personally don't dislike you, as I said before: It's out of my hands. While I may withhold secrets from the people for the purpose of national security, the Emperor does not put himself nor people he favors above the law."_

"So I'm to be locked up for the rest of my life."

" _A lot can happen with time, Saraslha. You may get a chance for amnesty in the future, especially as the public ire toward you cools down, more facts emerge regarding the incident and the Dominion is thrust into a hypothetical future peril. All that said, I make no guarantees, and as it stands: yes, I'm asking you to go to prison for the rest of your life."_

"That's… harsh but fair, Mr. Emperor." Her eyes were shut tight as she said this.

" _You understand, then? If you want to serve the Dominion, then you will start by obeying its laws."_

"I do understand… Though people are going to try to have me killed during the transit to New Folsom. Am I allowed to defend myself?"

A hint of amused laughter on the other end. _"You are, but I still expect you to honor your sentence."_

Saraslha took a breath, processing this. Even if she spent a hundred years in prison, she would not age; time was on her side. "This is all acceptable to me, less than I'd hoped and more than I could ask."

09090909090909090909090

 **The Present, Mar Sara system, void of space near DCF Icarus**

The real Saraslha, wounded but alive, floated in the space near the prison ship, having jettisoned herself through an airlock.

The saraslha that Karla killed was a Changeling, formed from one larva consuming the biomass of all the others in the bag. It was made to perfectly replicate the wounded Saraslha's appearance. The real Saraslha put her prison psi insulator back on after this, which concealed her psionic presence as she quietly exited the ship.

But there was a hiccup to this plan: Saraslha's flying ability didn't work in a vacuum. There was no way to reach the habitable planet in the Mar Sara system.

Whether it was because her weakened body couldn't produce the proper flight microbes, or a massive oversight when Zagara was designing her genetic code, the only thing causing Saraslha to move was the momentum from the initial kick out of the airlock when it depressurized and opened. This took her a considerable distance from the ship, and the relatively nearby star and distant planets of the system seemed to stand still.

A distant explosion, which Saraslha didn't hear but saw, came out of the rear area of the DCF Icarus, the location of its reactor core. This implied that Karla had already left, and set a bomb in the reactor's cooling module to cover her tracks and the assassination she thought she'd performed. The prison cells of the ship ejected from its superstructure, sealing themselves with flimsy but airtight shutters. The prisoners and crew would have about 2 hours of oxygen to wait for rescue.

Alone in the vacuum of space, Saraslha looked toward the system's star, soaking in and appreciating the warmth of its light. There was no air or sound in space, but at least there was sunlight.

It was several minutes later before she even tried to move again, but she couldn't. In confusion, her head turned, laboriously, to look down at herself.

The roots had gone out of control. They were now extremely visible on the outside, merging together to coil around each of her limbs and central body with meticulous care. She could no longer move, and could only watch as the plant-like roots engulfed her with minutes ticking by in which she could do nothing, drifting in the vacuum of space.

Before the plant-like exterior covered her eyes, Saraslha saw a new ship exit warp space near enough to be visible. It was sizable, a sleek design which contrasted the rugged Terran norm. It looked like Nova's ship…

 **20 minutes later**

"Yes, I'm positive this hunk of wood is what we're looking for, now drill through the top and into the metal part inside, where the electronics are concentrated."

Saraslha heard this muffled voice as she regained consciousness. A metal part? It occurred to Saraslha that she never removed her psi insulator. That's why she didn't sense Nova's mind nor receive any telepathic messages. A loud, consistent vibration rippled through the warm, comfortable, immobile shell encasing her person. It was a drill, and once it reached a certain point, she felt the psi insulation around her head deactivate.

" _Saraslha, is that you?"_

She smiled at this telepathic voice. _"Hey Nova. Have I got the story to tell you…"_

" _Yeah, like why you're some weird, leafless tree."_

" _Inside the tree, Nova me old mate. Inside. You can cut me out whenever."_

"Welding torch." She heard Nova's physical voice say.

"Aye ma'am." Another voice, then the sound of pressurized gas being released followed by the cracking of an igniter.

" _A flame? Wouldn't a saw make more sense?"_ Saraslha said over telepathy.

" _We tried that and got a few centimeters, it wore out the blade."_

" _Must be some tough wood then, eh?"_

" _Tough, but not hydrated. A flame should make short work of it."_ Torching large gashes in the wood dissuaded it from trying to regrow. It was all connected to Saraslha, and she felt it disintegrate, but the plant-like matter lacked any nervous system to convey pain, so it wasn't unpleasant.

"Okay, I think I have a clear line to her mouth, who has the vespene can?"

The thought of being fed condensed vespene in her wounded, weakened state made Saraslha's mouth an mind salivate. _"If you feed me vespene, the hole in my chest will heal pretty fast, and I'll be able to tear out of this wood once you cut it enough."_

" _This isn't the pure condensed vespene you'd find in a zerg sac, Saraslha. It's the refined stuff with additives: Used for vehicle fuel, industrial machines and specialized casting furnaces. It's gonna taste like shit."_

" _Gimme!"_

The liquid vespene was poured down the opening in the wood shell and Saraslha allowed it into her tasted like a chunk of grassy swamp mud blended with maggot meat, but she was starving, so she swallowed it.

A burst of energy ran through Saraslha, while at the same time her mind entered a haze. The additives to the gas had a psychedelic effect, and she passed out.

09090909090909090909090

After Saraslha's trial, Alexei Stukov had taken his leave of Izsha's entourage, returned to his ship and set a course back to Char. When his ship exited warp space near the planet he was well in telepathic range of Zagara. She made no attempt to communicate so he took the initiative.

" _Did you hear the news, Zagara?"_

No answer. Once the Aleksander entered a sustained orbit he shuttled down to the planet, landed right in front of Zagara's organic palace and strolled briskly inside. He sensed another powerful broodmother -probably Kilysa- inside the structure as well.

He found them together in an open space with a skylight; an auditorium of sorts. They were speaking to each other.

" _Izsha has examined your former second."_ Zagara said to her. _"Her body is intact, but it is unknown whether her mind will ever recover."_

" _Is Rindell not exiled for the same offense as your daughter?"_

Zagara shook her head. _"Saraslha contradicted my will, but Rindell was faithful to the one whom she gave allegiance. She will not be punished."_

" _Saraslha should never have been sent to the Terrans' world."_

" _Had you, or another senior broodmother challenged her and taken her title away, I would not have done so. She defeated the younger queens too easily and was growing content. Such stagnation would have been her doom."_

" _Without the title you'd given her which made her a target, the Princess' stagnation would have been even greater."_ Kilysa said. _"I am adept at several advanced tactics which could have beaten her in a controlled match. But I let her be, as in my mind the Swarm's continued stability is of greater importance than my desire to rule it."_

Stukov had walked close to them, knowing they knew he was there, and he butted in on their conversation, "would either of you fine lady-monsters like to know what happened to her?"

" _Stukov,"_ Kilysa said in a deadpan acknowledgement as they turned to look at him, her eyes becoming slightly hostile.

"Bitch," he nodded upward toward Kilysa with a one-side smirk. "And Overqueen." He turned and lowered his head briefly toward Zagara.

Zagara spoke, looking away, _"an exile is dead to the Swarm. I've no interest in knowing her fate."_

"You're a bad liar, Zagara."

Kilysa stepped toward Stukov, between him and Zagara in a confrontational stance. _"You have always skirted on the edge of insubordination, disrespecting the Overqueen's allowance for individual thought."_ Her over-shoulder claw appendages raised ready to strike. _"You will show deference in her presence, half-terran filth."_

Stukov didn't emote, or move from his relaxed posture. "You wanna be a tough guy, I understand that. But, ah… You attack me, and that'll be the end of you."

A period of intense silence. Zagara said nothing.

Now his eyes were laser-focused toward Kilysa's.

Slowly, and with an effort of willpower evident in her movements, Kilysa backed down, and then stepped back.

" _Stukov."_ Zagara said, _"To survive as a Zerg, and be of further utility to the Swarm, my daughter must be consistently faced with adversity. After Sephulli, she had gone too long without it."_

"I get that." He said, "it's just worlds apart from the way humans treat their children."

" _I am not human."_

"You've got more in you than you think, Zagara. You too Kilysa." Stukov turned halfway to leave. "Where do you think your higher brain functions came from? It's the most sophisticated organ nature has ever produced and Abathur could never create a functional one from scratch. He'd modify it heavily for sure but it still had to come from something." He turned fully and walked away, now raising his voice to it echoed through the open-sky chamber. "And I'll give you a hint: It wasn't a protoss brain."

0909090909090909090909090

Saraslha awoke in a bed, within a dark, vaguely lit private room with a window to the outside.

" _Awake at last."_ She heard Nova's telepathic voice from elsewhere aboard. _"We, and 'we' meaning Reigel, figured out that your plant growth is only triggered when you're exposed to ultraviolet light, such as that of the Mar Sara system's star. He also speculated that your cell aboard the prison ship used a Shimada brand gen-four closed circuit energy barrier, which emits UV like crazy."_

Saraslha processed this for a moment as she sat up and threw the blanket off. No sunlight was coming through the window. _"Lovely, so I'm a freaking vampire now,"_ she said sarcastically.

" _All you need now is an allergy to garlic."_ Nova's telepathic voice said jokingly.

" _Don't jinx me Nova, please…"_

" _Pft, so, where do you want to be dropped off?"_

" _Aren't you here to make sure I go to prison?"_

" _No, a lot happened after Sephulli, and let's just say… I'm not on any kind of leash. Hell, on paper I'm probably an outlaw."_

" _Hold on a minute…"_ Saraslha smirked in the physical space she occupied. _"Were you exiled for insubordination, like me?"_

" _I killed somebody I was explicitly ordered to take alive. Now chop chop, Saraslha. I ordered a course change, and my nav guy is asking for a destination."_

Saraslha stared ahead, taking this in. She took a deep inhale, then released. _"Take me to New Folsom, put some cuffs on me and turn me in."_

" _Are you sure about that, Saraslha? I mean, I can do it; got an unmarked dropship with an up to date IFF beacon and everything. But from what I hear you've got life sentence in there."_

" _Yeah, Nova. I know and I'm sure."_

" _You can have some time to think about it, stay with us for awhile if you want—"_

" _Thank you, but my mind is made up. I have to take what's coming to me."_

"… _Alright. Be at hangar one in half an hour."_ She felt Nova disconnect. After turning and setting her feet on the floor, Saraslha saw a light go on; a lamp on the other side of the dark room.

Sitting in a chair next to the end table with the lit lamp, there was a small girl with blue eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair. She looked calm, and wore a form-fitting environment suit.

Saraslha winced at this, "who the hell are—"

The girl switched her lamp off, vanishing into the darkness. Saraslha quickly turned on the lamp near her bed, but the girl was gone.

Saraslha blinked as she shook her head, getting on her feet and heading toward the door. "Terran vespene fuel is making me see things..."

090909090909090909090

 **1/2 hour later**

Valerian Mengsk received a private call in his office. Nova Terra was one of the handful of private contacts he maintained, and she was the caller in this instance.

He placed his communicator on the desk and pressed 'answer.' "How'd it go?"

" _Almost exactly as you predicted. The DCF Icarus was a wreck, I found our little princess floating in space, and I gave her the choice to be taken wherever she wanted like you asked, and she wanted to go to New Folsom as a prisoner."_

"Then she passes… Test Number One, at least."

" _How'd you know all this?"_

"She called me four hours ago on this very line, offering her allegiance to the Terran Dominion. I decided on the spot that her loyalty needed to be tested, even if her stated motive was believable. She also told me that people would try to kill her in transit, so I knew something would happen to the ship."

" _We both know it was Kuraski who caused the Neo Hybrid Crisis. I should just come to Korhal and blow his brains out."_

"You will not." The Emperor said forcefully. "Corrupt elements in the Dominion are to be duly convicted, not whisked away or assassinated in the middle of the night. This is _not_ my father's regime.

" _Alright, I'll let him be. But if you're leaving it to due process, he'll get away."_

"So be it. The corrupt pool from which he draws legal protection is steadily drying away. That big-picture strategy is of greater priority than the range of the moment drive to catch a single fish."

" _You don't think it makes you look weak, Emperor?"_

He shook his head. "Restraint is a strength, not a weakness, November. I'd love to see Kuraski get what he deserves, but I'd be indulging my emotions -weak-willed,- if I had him killed or spied on illegally."

" _Hmph, whatever you say Mengsk Junior. So what's going to happen to the exiled princess?"_

"Among high-clearance officers, she will henceforth be referred to as Asset Fifteen, and her prison sentence will be considered a reservist status. If enough time passes in which she gives me no reason to think she'll cause trouble, I'll put her to use."

09090909090909090909090

 **The next morning**

The investigation around GenTek Central concluded, and David Kuraski was able to return to his office. He passed by fast-moving contractors and custodians in the lobby and on the executive offices floor who were efficiently cleaning up the mess and replacing broken items.

He sat at his desk, turned on the computer, and on the list of new messages one name caught his eye.

Doctor Keid Marchen.

He clicked on it, and it read such,

 _To my former employer, Mr. Kuraski_

 _I know you're fond of plain speaking, so I'll be concise: Everything I know about your dirty hybrid secret, including the original construction data on the container I designed to hold it, has been packaged in a video-recorded statement set to be released if you come after me or anybody close to me in an underhanded way. The setup for releasing this statement is complete, and can be executed whether or not I'm alive._

 _This evidence probably will not gain traction and have an effect on its own, but if it's released shortly after my sudden and unexplained death or disappearance? You be the judge._

 _I've sold off most of Saraslha's assets, and have brought the unsustainable competitor she formed to a semi-solvent state, which will become fully solvent when I complete the next-generation reactor for Adaptive Systems Interplanetary._

 _That's right, the silly project she took up in a childish attempt to one-up you has become a very real breakthrough in the making. It turns out I have a gift for finding and recruiting scientific and engineering minds more gifted than I, and we've put together a construction process that will complete the prototype ahead of schedule and seventy percent the cost. Adaptive Systems will come to us more for reactor contracts in the future, and you can kiss that source of revenue goodbye._

 _I haven't spoken to you since I betrayed your company and your trust, and I do owe you an explanation, and it's a short explanation: You tried to start a war. It's really that simple. Saraslha was selfish and irresponsible, but that's a world apart from the malevolence I saw in you. You may have beaten her, but you're not free of the person who chose to follow her over you._

 _I'm going to do what Saraslha couldn't, David Kuraski._

 _I'm going to break you, and beat you._

09090909090909090909090909090

Alexei Stukov found Zagara alone in her usual spot overlooking Char's beautifully glowing orange landscape at night. Her unchecked psi power had a habit of broadcasting to every mind nearby. Stukov usually felt it as a mild hum, but now it was calmer, more subdued; melancholy.

"Pretty quiet without the little one about." Stukov leaned back on the tooth-lined chest-high wall which Zagara looked over. He turned his head toward her. "Wouldn't you agree, Zagara?"

" _For hundred and sixteen days ago, before I sent her, and you to Sephulli, Saraslha told me that she would one day rule the Swarm; Rule me. I still remember the energy in her thoughts as she said this; the rage, the conviction. Everything I've done to her since has been a response in support of that virtue she showed me."_

Virtue in Zagara's view, perhaps. Stukov's attachment toward her had been more human-like. "Things don't tend to go the way we plan."

" _Indeed."_

"It's not like she wouldn't have been killed fairly quickly, if she'd become overqueen in the state she was in."

" _I'd thought that an obvious reality. The title was meant to bring conflict her way, nothing more."_

"But you know…" He continued talking. "Maybe, in the rock-bottom situation she's in now, she'll come above all of it. Maybe she'll sort out her issues, overcome the limitations you gave her and the adversity you pitted her against, and in a future we can't predict, one day surpass you. He looked toward Zagara again. "We'll see, won't we?"

" _Yes…"_ Zagara didn't look away from staring ahead as Stukov walked away, leaving her alone.

" _We shall indeed see."_

 **The End**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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